Comments on: Vending machine proxy/broker

By: buzzup.com

buzzup.com — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 07:27:51 +0000

Vending machine proxy/broker…

Right after reading Dan Hill’s recent post about transport fare system this morning, I had to bring a friend to a tram stop here in Geneva and I had an interesting discussion with what I would call the local “vending machine proxy/broker”….

By: Dan Hill

Dan Hill — Sun, 11 May 2008 00:16:36 +0000

That’s fantastic! And fascinating, as you say. I had an interesting conversation with a friend in Melbourne, where of course all the conductors were removed from the trams there a long time ago, as a cost-cutting measure. He reckons that even a basic – but more thorough – cost-benefit analysis would have the conductors reinstated on the trams, due to the civic functions they perform. They help people with wayfinding – in a very human-readable interface – as in “Where do I get off for Swanston St and can I change there to get to Fitzroy”, those kind of complex queries; can offer advice up about the city as a form of informal tourist guide; present an interface onto the transit agency; are a form of ‘lite’ on-board security measure; and again, illustrate a kind of seam in the city’s civic structure. Amongst other things.

By: Mark Drovdahl

Mark Drovdahl — Thu, 08 May 2008 18:39:23 +0000

Somewhat related:
The Seattle-Tacoma airport hires attendants to assist people with the self-pay machines in the airport garage. The payment terminals are located on a different level from the auto exit and your paid ticket allows you to exit the parking structure. The goal of the system must be to decentralize the crowding that can occur when everyone pays at the exit point- payment terminals for humans obviously take up less physical space than exit gates for autos. However, the separation of these logically adjoined activities has caused enough confusion that the system now requires a human guide. Solve one problem, cause another.

By: Omar Elsayed

Omar Elsayed — Thu, 08 May 2008 14:42:13 +0000

The same practice used to be very common in New York City until the transportation authority started cracking down. The vending machines here are fairly well designed, so the brokers weren’t really offering any assistance – just trying to make a buck.

There are two types of fare cards here in NY: pay-per-ride and unlimited. The unlimited card, which comes at a greater discount, lets you ride as many times as you’d like within a certain period of time (a day, a week or a month). To prevent people from sharing a single unlimited card, the MTA doesn’t allow the same card to be used twice within a certain time limit (I think it’s something like 10 min). As a result, the NY fare brokers would typically carry a stack of about 10 metrocards and cycle through them so by the time they reached the beginning of the stack the required amount of time would have elapsed.