I can't see this ever happening in Vancouver, because it would make too much sense. Beverage containers and milk cartons are recyclable here, but the city won't pick them up when they collect paper, plastic and other recyclables. You have to take them to a bottle depot yourself. They have advertising campaigns to try to shame people into doing it. In a city where so many people don't drive, I can't understand why they force people to return certain recyclables to depots. There are a lot of people in the city who go around collecting bottles to return for the money, so if you put them out at the curb, chances are someone will come take them away... but not the city garbage/recycling collectors.
We're currently in the process of some big changes to how people pay to use transit, and it just seems like a huge mess. Currently and in the past, we've had tickets for individual trips (bought in books of ten), payment by cash (must be exact amount for buses, skytrain stations have machines that give change and accept both cash and credit/debit cards), monthly passes, and some people have annual passes (I think those are for people with disabilities).
We're transitioning to this new "Compass card" system where everyone has to buy a card (that tracks everywhere you go - privacy concern), load money or a pass onto it, and then tap in when you get on transit and tap out when you get off. In greater Vancouver, our transit system is divided into three zones, and you pay more if you travel through more zones. It's been in the testing phase for a while, so gradually more and more people are using it, but it's not yet available to the general public and it doesn't seem to be working properly most of the time when I see people who have the cards trying to use them. If it doesn't work right when you try to tap out, you get automatically charged the maximum amount, even if maybe you only took a short trip travelling one or two stops within one zone.
There was controversy a while back because eventually, tickets will no longer be sold (hidden fare increase, since you get a discount for buying a book of ten over paying by cash for each time you travel) and tickets and cash fares used on the buses will not be accepted on the skytrain. If you pay by cash, you basically get a ticket that stays valid for a certain amount of time, but the new fare gates you have to get through to get to the trains won't accept these transfers, so you have to pay again (hidden fare increase that will affect primarily people who can afford it the least).
Just this week, it came out that people with disabilities, many of whom have now been forced to switch to the card, are now being told they have to get off buses at the back door rather than the front. The front door is lower, the front of the bus can "kneel," and there's a ramp for people who use walkers, wheelchairs and scooters. It's also much easier for, say, someone who is blind to get on at the front, sit in the priority seating area for seniors and people with disabilities, and then get off at the front. But these people are now being told they have to get off at the back door! I think this is because you can only tap in at the front and tap out at the back. It's like, how the fuck did this not come into consideration when they were designing the system?
When everyone is forced to use the Compass card, it will make transit a lot slower, because it takes time for everyone to tap in when getting on and tap out when getting off. It already takes long enough for a full bus to unload without people having to tap out and wait for the system to respond!
I'm not sure how much money is being spent on this new system, and I probably don't want to know. It's frustrating when money is being spent on this rather than on increasing service levels, particularly when there are some routes where passengers regularly have to wait two or three buses for there to be space to get on.
We're currently in the process of some big changes to how people pay to use transit, and it just seems like a huge mess. Currently and in the past, we've had tickets for individual trips (bought in books of ten), payment by cash (must be exact amount for buses, skytrain stations have machines that give change and accept both cash and credit/debit cards), monthly passes, and some people have annual passes (I think those are for people with disabilities).
We're transitioning to this new "Compass card" system where everyone has to buy a card (that tracks everywhere you go - privacy concern), load money or a pass onto it, and then tap in when you get on transit and tap out when you get off. In greater Vancouver, our transit system is divided into three zones, and you pay more if you travel through more zones. It's been in the testing phase for a while, so gradually more and more people are using it, but it's not yet available to the general public and it doesn't seem to be working properly most of the time when I see people who have the cards trying to use them. If it doesn't work right when you try to tap out, you get automatically charged the maximum amount, even if maybe you only took a short trip travelling one or two stops within one zone.
There was controversy a while back because eventually, tickets will no longer be sold (hidden fare increase, since you get a discount for buying a book of ten over paying by cash for each time you travel) and tickets and cash fares used on the buses will not be accepted on the skytrain. If you pay by cash, you basically get a ticket that stays valid for a certain amount of time, but the new fare gates you have to get through to get to the trains won't accept these transfers, so you have to pay again (hidden fare increase that will affect primarily people who can afford it the least).
Just this week, it came out that people with disabilities, many of whom have now been forced to switch to the card, are now being told they have to get off buses at the back door rather than the front. The front door is lower, the front of the bus can "kneel," and there's a ramp for people who use walkers, wheelchairs and scooters. It's also much easier for, say, someone who is blind to get on at the front, sit in the priority seating area for seniors and people with disabilities, and then get off at the front. But these people are now being told they have to get off at the back door! I think this is because you can only tap in at the front and tap out at the back. It's like, how the fuck did this not come into consideration when they were designing the system?
When everyone is forced to use the Compass card, it will make transit a lot slower, because it takes time for everyone to tap in when getting on and tap out when getting off. It already takes long enough for a full bus to unload without people having to tap out and wait for the system to respond!
I'm not sure how much money is being spent on this new system, and I probably don't want to know. It's frustrating when money is being spent on this rather than on increasing service levels, particularly when there are some routes where passengers regularly have to wait two or three buses for there to be space to get on.
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