Another ticket inspector rant...

Complaints Corner
21
i think that they have begun a ticket discussion here in Zurich. So things might change.

22
So far as I understand in Zürich they are not allowed to stop you getting off the bus/tram whatever; if they have not checked your ticket before the bus reaches the stop then story over.

23
I'm not saying you are wrong but thats not how it works in reality. Sometimes there will be 6-10 inspectors waiting at a bus stop. The buses will not move on until they have checked everyone including those alighting at that stop.

24
Must have changed! I was several times on a tram that was being checked by these plain clothes guys. Then it stopped at a stop & several people ran off & the inspectors just shrugged.

25
Thats because people in Zurich are more honest and don't need to be checked as much.

26
the bendy buses were the only ones that failed in that regard...They soon got phased out x)

27
Not to mention it would naturally cause rates to increase to cover the cost of investment. Coming from SF, was nice to go home on a business trip recently to see that the long proposed chip cards were in effect. For a long time the machines were installed, but not able to be used. Was hilarious to see people with paper tickets trying to figure that one out (Palm to forehead).

"Mam, that system is there for looks. It doesn't stamp your ticket. Sorry. Hopefully one day it will work."

Was great to see people loading, scanning, and making there way to a seat or standing room.

Being a frequenter of Pub. Trans here in Kanton SG, love the timeliness, cleanliness, and ease. Trains and buses run not nearly as frequent as larger cities, but nice to Go Green, relax, and enjoy the views while cruising around.

Last winter, when picking up my daughter, bought my ticket, put it in my jacket pocket, picked up my daughter from the kita, put gloves in my pocket, put on her shoes, pulled gloves out, put on, and walked to bus stop. Once the bus arrived, loaded, to be greeted by "he who shall not be named", only to not have my ticket. Must have been pulled out with my gloves. So. $120 later, or something, not awesome.

Safe to say, it hurt. Would have been nice to have a chip card to scan and get a monthly bill for services rendered. Would be a costly upgrade, but... a great one.

28
Except of course Upass in South Korea, or Hong Kong's Octopus card system, introduced eight and seven years respectively before Oyster, which London copied ... and which have always worked, and didn't require early termination of the operators' contract to get myriad problems sorted ... but you're right, Oyster works. Now.

29
Since when! Its already well behind Asia. HK introduced a system years ahead which also includes small value payments that are accepted in MacDonalds and similar chains.

Bejing also has an equivalent sytem

South Korea and Taiwan are in the process of introducing payment for travel on mobile phones not even needing a smart card reader.

Oyster is good but certainly only a leader in europe since asia is the location without peers and likely to be years ahead due to the lower red tape on introducing new innovations to the existing systems

30
Only time I ever got nailed was during the morning rush. 100 CHF, but then 150 CHF, then "oops, our mistake... You were not supposed to get the Mahnung, because you did not get the original reciept," then "We'll refund the 50 CHF difference sometime this century..." Bah.

31
I'm just not a big fan of how they approach you like as though they're going to mug you. If you're a ticket inspector, I realize you want to catch the fare dodgers, but at least some uniform or something would be nice. They're still stealthy as hell.

32
We went to Schaffhausen last weekend and there was an English-speaking tourist on the train who had evidently bought the wrong ticket. The ticket inspector was kind enough to explain the problem and let her off provided she go straight to the ticket booth at the other end and buy the correct ticket. (While I sat there thinking, "Yeah, like that's going to happen.")

I've been here for three months and have only seen the ticket inspectors on the tram once so far. The woman opposite me did the whole rummage-in-the-bag thing and didn't have her ticket, so was promptly sent off. It does indeed seem to be the standard thing to do when you don't have a ticket. "Oh, I know it's here some where..."

33
Yes, it can be quite disconcerting. One time I though I was being flashed. Normally though there are half a dozen so it's pretty clear what's happening.

34

Yeah, that works very well actually. In Beijing the system on buses is like you all get on through the front door and swipe the card, which is monitored by the driver. When you get off you swipe again at the exits. The amount of fare you pay depends on how far you traveled. But if you only swipe once, then after a while the penalty kicks in automatically. This technique has reduced fare dodging in Beijing by a significant amount. So basically good tech works.

35
Does it do to reduce jumping the turnstiles? Which I have witnessed repeatedly in Paris.

36
I'm sure it's completely IMPOSSIBLE to design turnstiles that are high enough to prevent jumping.

37
Same as the Oyster card on the London underground.

38
How dare they??? Doing their job, what`s the world coming to?

39
Except for the central buses where you only swipe once (as they never leave the central zone). I preferred it when some tiny but hard-as-nails woman would violently elbow her way through the overcrowded bus and sell the tickets. London's Oyster system works on a swipe-in-and-out system for the tubes/DLR but buses as a flat fare so you just swipe on the way in. I don't like the London bus system; it seems silly that you can sit on one bus for an hour and pay 1/3 the cost of someone who unfortunately needs to change twice to get to their destination.

40
Also if you forget to swipe out it can become costly even if it was a genuine mistake. The chances of a reimbursement are slim at the ticket counter.