Either 2005 or 2006. I'll keep looking.

Eh, at least I'll still feel good about using the Chicago Card for environmental reasons (even if it's giving me a wrist problem due to all the "failed to read" crap).

And, Mary, I'm pretty sure it was last November.

Ok hackers, lets get started on the RFID Hacking.

Its been done to Boston's Mass Transit cards....and ours are VERY similar :)

Here's the "banned" presentation from the M.I.T. Students

http://tech.mit.edu/V128/N30/subway/Defcon_Presentation.pdf

Let's see who can get it working :D

Why don't they just raise the price of a transfer? Don't most "transfers" end up being "your return trip because you got your errand done quickly"?

That's a pretty big increase for those of us that use the Chicago Card....I don't like the rationale that because we live in zip codes that are more affluent, we should pay a disproportionate share of the fare increases.

Of course, "soaking the rich" is likely to be the new theme in Washington, so we better get adjusted to it now....

ophmarketing, zones were addressed the last time you asked that question. Chicago's system is a hundred years old. The stations are not set up for people to be able to efficiently swipe out ... imagine the hundreds of people at Belmont trying to swipe out in the evening, through six turnstyles. Hell, even my station, Thorndale, would be a mess in the morning as dozens of commuters are trying to enter while the crowd of Senn High School students exits. ophmarketing, please name "pretty much every other metropolitan rail system in the freakin' world" because I can only think of D.C.'s Metro, which was built in the 70s.

Berlin kind of, sort of has it--fare based pricing--but probably not in a way that oprah sees it.

I used to live in D.C., and I see they're still calling their non-rush fares "reduced" fares. The "regular" (rush hour) fare used to be in effect from 4:00-6:00 p.m. but I see they've broadened it from 3:00-7:00 p.m.

http://www.wmata.com/riding/hours_fares.cfm#Metrorail_Fares

Of course, "soaking the rich" is likely to be the new theme in Washington, so we better get adjusted to it now....

Let's hope so. You know, what comes around....

But rest assured, mss2400 as long as Democrats or Republicans are in charge not much will change. The needs of the wealthy will continue to be placed above all others.

Caracas, Venezuela has a metro system inaugurated in the 80s. Also a swipe out.

http://www.metrodecaracas.com.ve/

sfrazer_chicago, you're right about Boston. I misspoke there. I was thinking of the rail system, which I believe IS zoned.

London has always had zones (at least in modern history), but they only implemented exit swiping sometime in the 1990s (it wasn't in effect when I went to school there in the mid-80s, but it was when I was there on my honeymoon in the mid-90s)--up until that point, it was more or less run on the honor system, if you can believe it.

From my experiences with the exit barriers in the years since, it works fairly smoothly, even in the older stations.

ophmarketing, the Minneapolis/St. Paul system is brand new (last 5 years or so) and only runs between downtown, the airport and the Mall of America. Not exactly a system I would like to emulate here in Chicago.

The BART system in and around San Fransisco is also a swipe out system, but it is more a regional transit system (like METRA) than a local one (like the CTA), so I'm not sure how relevant that example is.

Personally, I would love to see the CTA update and switch to a zone system (and expand service and increase maintenance). But consider this, they have just announced a $0.25 - $0.50 fare increase after not increasing fares in the past couple of years and this entire message board (and probably the Trib & S-T boards) is filled with complaints. I'm sure the same thing will occur face-to-face at the public hearings. So why does anyone think that the CTA would ever consider proposing a plan to spend many millions of dollars to update the system when they can't raise fares a quarter without incurring the wrath of their customers?

Matilda, re: Paris, I was referring to the RER train system, which is broken out into (I believe) 6 or 7 zones. The Metro is not zoned, to the best of my knowledge.

we should only pay NYC prices when we get NYC transit.

we should only pay NYC prices when we get NYC transit.

bingo.

Those of here in New York City just love our transit system. Why, we get things like 'train congestion' and 'sick passenger' and 'stalled train ahead' messages almost every day. What's not to like? And for those wondeful things, we pay a whopping $2.00 (base fare - no zones).
Granted, we have to wait anywhere from 5 minutes to 10 or 15 minutes for a train if it's not rush hour. And of course, the wonderful experience of waiting at the start of train line to get on the express train only to have to become a local because of one of those above-mentioned notices. Yeah, we love our MTA.
/end_sarcasm
Seriously, we have an MTA that doesn't have to show its books to anyone so every year they scream "we have no money! We need to jack up the fares and the bridge/tunnel tolls!!" Yes, they also cover the tolls for the bridges and tunnels so that they generate surpluses which then get fed to the railroads (not so much the buses and subways). So, either way, you pay. Of course, one way they do the fare increases is to reduce the bonus you get when you buy a MetroCard and put more than a few bucks on it. We used to get 20% but now it's only 15%. The other way is to increase the price of the unlimited cards. But it seems that the CTA has figured that trick out too.
And for the record, I, too, like the no-zone concept. I don't care how old your system is, an extra swipe is just another chance for your card to get mis-read and then what? You're stuck. My metrocard somehow got hosed the other day and even the token booth agent was unable to read it. So now I have to send it in the MTA and get whatever money was left on the card. Who keeps track of that? I have to trust them that they'll be able to figure it out and give me money back. And I had to buy a new card to be able to get on the subway (mind you, I had already paid when I got on the bus to get to the subway station and it's a free transfer to do that, but it cost me another $2 to get on the train).

And while we're at it, how about some little signs noting how many minutes until the next train comes? That technology has been in place for well over 20 years in other places. Surely we can figure THAT one out.

I'm not sure I need them spending money on putting this technology in. What benefit does it bring?

First, it'll always be wrong. Trains are delayed all the time. Slow zones, sick people, jerks sticking their arms/legs in doors at the last second.

Second--and more importantly--what am I gonna do once I know how long I have to wait? I'm gonna wait. I've already paid. I'm not gonna see that it says 25 minutes and leave and get a taxi. I'm gonna wait like I always do until the next train actually arrives. If it were some godforsakenley long delay that would require me to change my travel plans, they'll announce it over the PA.

Los Angeles is also a one price system, with a $5 fare for the whole day.
Plus, if you ride Metrolink, their minuscule commuter train system, that ticket lets you ride all the buses & subway trains all day for the same commuter train fare.