give these cards a redemtive value so that they do not end up as litter that other Houstonians must clean up around bus stops like transfer tickets, free "news" papers, and snack trash.  

I never see discarded aluminum cans laying amongst the other litter for very long.  Typically I see someone searching for the cans and looking past the other litter and discarded transfer tickets.  

Havn't you noticed how lovely the bus stops and surrounding areas are?

What can be done to prevent a budding "black market" for these Q-cards which are being handed out "willy-nilly" for "FREE" (taxpayer-subsidized of course) to students, and others?

Considering that the cards are free, I don't think there will be much of a market.

Free and at time of "willy-nilly" handing out they have NO VALUE... So where is the "black market" value?

wi11ie

Well if you read the notice above by Mary in the third paragraph, the first one was free, the 1st replacement for a lost card is also free.  The 3rd, 4th, 5th, etc are going to cost you $10 each.  

The advantage over cash for the Q is the free bus transfers so if you toss away a zero balance card and decide to pay cash, don't expect to get any free transfers.

wi11ie,

It is my understanding that Q-cards with credit balances are being distributed for "Free."

I went down to the Downtown Transit Center, and after waiting in line, was told that my Q-Card was not registered, even though, i have received email correspondence, and mail after being a Q-booster.  I received a new Q-card, with no balance from the treasury department, and after the next day, I attempted to put a few dollars on it, and the machine in the bavck of the bus told me "No Contract with Card", and spit my money out.  Mary, can you tell me what this is supposed to mean?

Wakester,

HERE ARE A FEW EXAMPLES FOR THOSE WHO ARE UNAWARE.

************

http://students.rice.edu/students/Metro.asp

+++++++++

Will I have unlimited use of METRO bus and rail during the academic year?

Yes.  Your Rice-issued Q Card will allow you  unlimited access to METRO during the academic year.   Your card is valid August 17, 2007, to May 11, 2008.

===============

City of Houston

FY2006    $720,000

FY2007    $750,000 (4.17% Increase)

FY2008    $800,000 (6.7% INCREASE)

++++++++++++

56. Ordinance 2007-1260

ORDINANCE approving and authorizing contract between the City and the METROPOLITAN

TRANSIT AUTHORITY OF HARRIS COUNTY, TEXAS for Purchase of Employee Transit

Fare Media; providing a maximum contract amount - $800,000.00 - General, Enterprise,

Special Revenue and Other Funds - TAGGED BY COUNCIL MEMBER HOLM

This was Item 38 on Agenda of October 31, 2007

Michael W,

If you have an online account you can select the fare you are "full fare, student, senior"  This is your contract.  Was a Q-Booster also but could not add money until the contract was selected.  THen you can add money online or on the bus.

Enough, enough, enough!  No more Q-Card!  It is frustrating and infuriating to know I'll be paying more to ride this terrible service all while the agency is indifferent to the needs of the average passenger.

I was late to work today because one of your buses was late, the driver got lost, or the bus broke down.  Choose any reason you like, those are the three I got from your ever so wonderful customer service staff.  

First, a little background information.  I work at Hobby Airport. I was coming from UH-Main Campus.  That's a 10 minute trip by car.  I am supposed to be at work by 10:30am.  I leave at 9:00am to ensure I arrive on time.  Do you see anything wrong with that?  I do, but I live with it, fine, whatever.  But when I leave 90 minutes early for a 10 minute trip basically, and I still arrive late, then there is a problem.

I hate dealing with your customer service reps.  They are surly, poorly trained, and arrogant.  Imagine that, arrogance from customer service reps.  Everytime I call, it seems like I am an inconvenience.  Now, bear with me here guys, but um, if you're a customer service rep, customers are going to call.  And when you're dealing with the ineptitude and incompetence of Metro most will be angry.  And they seem to be accountable to know one.  If I hate how the person I'm complaining to is treating me, who do I complain to from there?

Everyone at Metro seems to do their job with a level of indifference and apathy I thought I'd never experience from this agency.  Does anyone there take pride in their jobs anymore!?  Why are bus drivers picking routes they can't drive?  Why are supervisors letting them?  Why do your cusotmer service information specialist not speciallize in customer service or information?  Why are you pursuing an ambitious light rail project when your bus service is in shambles?  

I am fed up with the way I'm treated and have been treated for some time by this agency.  If you, Ms. Sit, or any of the other executives had to deal with the service your agency provides you'd pull your hair out!  Oh sure you can ride the rail for a photo op, or ride a park and ride bus that comes every two minutes or so, but deal with what the average passenger has to deal with; a daily commute on a bus system seemingly on the verge of collapse.

At the beginning of the millenium Metro was running buses that were 20 years old and longer routes and somehow the system worked better.  You've streamlined and modernized the fleets and routes and now the whole edifice is caving in!  Is this 2008 or 1978, I can't tell as I've never heard of so many "downed" buses in all the time I've been riding this system.  And I ride the bus less now than in the "golden age."

I hope this Q-Card thing is a failure and that the feds put a stop to your light rail plans.  How dare you all in all of your arrogance try to pluck more money out of our pockets when you all don't even have the basics down?  FIX YOUR BUS SYSTEM!!!!!!!

I used to be one of this agency's biggest advocates.  I supported and defended every idea and concept and through your apathy and mistreatment you've made an enemy of me.

Build a better complaint system, complete with people who actually are concerned about taking the complaints and you won't see them on your PR blog.

Ms. Sit,

I clearly posted the sources, which generally amounts to taxpayer dollars from another pocket, going to pay METREAUX for the discounted cards.

I guess there is no simple way of monitoring discounted Q-cards, purchased with taxpayer funds, from ending up in the hands of others who buy them for a pittance.

Royko, I am no Metro apologist and think the Q-Card is a way to increase fares, but your point that our tax dollars are going to Metro so they can give away rides is, I believe, misguided. Sure the City of Houston has evidently set aside funds to buy Q-Cards and it undoubtedly came from taxes.  Where else does a City get money?  The City may be planning on providing Q-Cards to city workers as a benefit, so what, it is a job perk.  

Rice University is a private institution that has bought Q-Cards and provided them free to students (with their pictures on them) as part of a benefit of attending Rice.  The students pay huge tuition (or get big scholarships) to go there and Rice giving away a few cards may be part of their budget so they can feel good about getting cars off the road.

I believe Continental Airlines gave their downtown employees the old green 365 day passes free.  If you flew on Continental, part of your fare paid for a Continental employee to ride Metro free.  It was a perk to attract employees to work downtown.

I also think the Med Center hospitals provide free cards to employees because there is limited parking at the Med Center and they want to attract employees.  Sp part of your medical bill went to pay for a nurse to ride a bus.

Many big companies downtown subsidize their employees commuting costs because of tax incentives from the government and to get cars off the roads.  If you bought Exxon gas, bank at any of the big downtown banks, of buy any products or services from a downtown employer, part of your fee went to buy Q-Cards for their employees.

Is it possible a Rice student will sell his free Q-Card on the street to make some money?  Sure, it's possible, but it is not Metro's problem if it happens, it is Rice University's problem since they paid Metro for the rides on the card.  If the student tries to get another card, the old one will be invalidated and should be worthless.

Somebody answer me this question:

Who would be DUMB enough to even throw away the Q Card anyways?  It's not like the SVC---DUH!  Throwing that away is like throwing away your credit card when you see that you have no more money on it!

J. LIGGINS,

As an Operator....I can understand and sympathize with your disgust!!

I want to answer a few questions you set fourth,  as far as "putting drivers on routes they don't know"...this system operates on seniority.  Secondly, 20 yrs ago, we did not have "part-time operators METRO hired to decrease payment of "us"  veteran operators who could run a schedule, make connections, and deal with traffic situations, and a "BAD BUS'  and still manage to safely navigate the buses!!  At my seniority level, i should be able to get a "straight run" of some sort wether it be on the A.M. or P.M. side.  When the "rostering" took effect some years ago i am forced to join the "extra board"  extra board operators work a "float-pool" type of situation, when a regular driver on a route miss (show up late), go on vacation, take a sick day, etc...then its my job to fill-in.  IT IS IMPOSSIBLE FOR "BOARD" OPERATORS TO KNOW EVERY ROUTE, HOWEVER, THOSE OF US WHO HAS BEEN HERE FOR YEARS KNOW MOSTLY THE MAJORITY OF THE ROUTES!!

The modernized fleet.....WHEW!!

THE OLD GMC RTS WERE THE BEST BUSES WE COULD HAVE HAD...They are in DALLAS still, new york and other cities why not here???  THEY ARE EXPENSIVE!!! BUT VERY DEPENDABLE!!  another issue SIGNAGE....when the destination signs don't work, you must stop at EVERY stop and annouce the bus route and destination, amongst the confusion at the stops!!  

IVOMS SYSTEM....IF A TRAIN IS DEAD ON THE TRACK, WE USED TO DETOUR AS NECESSARY NOW WHE HAVE TO WAIT FOR A RESPONSE FROM CONTOL (DISPATCH WHICH COULD TAKE MINUTES 10, 15, 20,? AND GOD FORBID IF YOU TALK WITH THE "ONE WHO'S TRYING TO BE THE BOYSCOUT OR GIRLSCOUT" IF YOU ALL READ THIS....YOU KNOW WHO YOU ARE!!!  BUT I THOUGHT WE HAD A IVOM SYSTEM THAT TRACKED THE BUS?

I AM WITH YOU...THE WHOLE SYSTEM IS A WICK READY TO BE LIT FOR FAILURE!!

A COUPLE OF DRIVERS AND I WERE IN THE CLUB ROOM ON FRIDAY, I AM GOING TO SHOW YOU HOW THEY HAVE CUT RUNS AND TIME TO SAVE MONEY!!

A DRIVER HAS A RUN THAT RELIVES ON THE LINE DOWNTOWN AT 7:00 OR SO AM.  HE IS OUT OF SERVICE AND BACK TO THE GARAGE BY 7:45AM.  NOT EVEN 45 MINUTES...THE DRIVERS SRE FORCED TO WAIT DOWNTOWN FOR SHUTTLES THAT HAVE BEEN CUT TO EVERY HOUR, AND WE DON'T GET PAID TRAVEL TIME ANYMORE, AND STILL HAS TO COME BACK FOR HIS TORTURE IN THE EVENING (SPLIT SHIFT)!!  

THIS ROSTERING HAS CAUSED US TO BE SLEEP DEPRIVED, ANGRY, AND UPSET!!  LOSS OF MORALE IS THE NORM, HERE!!  THE SCHEDULES ARE IMPOSSIBLE TO KEEP!  

THE AVERAGE LOCAL RIDER IS GOING TO TAKE THE BRUNT OF THIS FARCE!!

I AM IN ACCORD WITH METRO AS FAR AS DELETING THE DAYPASS...INWHICH THE OPERATOR TOLD THEM 14 YEARS A GO WAS A MISTAKE TO INSTITUTE.  ALSO THE FREEDOM PASS AND WEEKLY AS WELL BUT METRO WANTED TO BOOST RIDERSHIP TO GET THE OKAY FOR THE TRAIN, ITS HERE AND LOOK WHO'S SUFFERING?  THE LOCAL RIDER....P&R RIDERS ARE ONLY CONCERNED ABOUT TRANSFERRING BALANCES AND YOU CAN BET YOUR BOTTOM DOLLAR........THEY WILL FIGURE OUT A REMEDY!!

"PEACE"

Mr. Collins,

METREAUX happens to (rhetorically)dump bushel baskets of taxpayer cash down the Main Street "rat hole" daily.

OH ANOTHER THING LIGGINS...THE "Q" IS HERE TO STAY!!

I THINK IT NEED TO BE HERE, ITS NOTHING DIFFERENT THAN THE WAY IT WAS...  THERE IS A LOT OF RIFF-RAFF WITH THE DAY PASSES AND TOO MANY "FREE" PASSES OUT THERE!!

14 YRS AGO THERE WAS A PAPER TRANSFER WE PUNCHED, IT HAD TWO HRS GOOD IN ONE DIRECTION...NEVER CHANGED UNTIL THEY ADDED ONE MORE HOUR MAKING IT 3 HOURS.

METRO'S MAKING PEOPLE RESPONSIBLE AND PAYING THEIR WAY, WE PAY FOR EVERYTHING ELSE I JUST THINK IN COMBINATION OF CUTTING SERVICE, TRIP TIMES, AND TRANSFER POINTS THIS IS GOING TO BE EXPENSIVE.  WE NEED MORE SERVICE!!

AND ONE MORE THING, THE FREE PASSES, THE FOLKS WITH THOSE ARE UNBELIEVEABLE!!  RIDES TO THE CRACK HOUSE, UNDER THE TREE TO DRINK, AND THE NO-FREE RIDES AND NO COURTESY RIDES!!  WELL, WE NEVER HAD THOSE!!  

FOR THE OPERATOR THIS "Q" IS A GOD-SENT ANSWER TO OUR AGE-OLD PROBLEMS I THINK IT JUST COULD HAVE BEEN BETTER PLANNED!!

Royko,

     What in God's name does THAT have to people wanting to stupidly throwing something away when they're not supposed to?  What does---whatever you just said---have to do with the METRORail line or bus service?  ABSOLUTELY NOTHING!  MAKES NO SENSE TO ME!!!!!!!

You may want to read what mizz_porkie said after your recent comment.  She just basically summarized why I think the "Q" is better than what we had before.  Too many freakin' passes and whatnot.  You can basically collect a "bushel basket" full of those things before the "Q" came along.

For someone who doesn't even use METRO's services (or even taxi cab service for that matter), step into our shoes and see how it is to rely on METRO to get where you need to go.  Can't do that, can ya?  DON'T THINK SO!!  ENOUGH SAID!

Personnally, there should be a "Daypass", but not like the one they had.  I actyally got 100 miles of travel one day on one.  Other cities have a 24 hour pass, but it is at a much higher rate.  I could go $6-8 dollars on one, in the form of METROMoney.

Now, the RTS.  The first ones (quiet) HouTran and VIA had were piles of mature.  

Once the bugs were out of them, they worked.  However, are not the wheelchair ramps at the rear door on the present generation of RTS's?

Questions:

What is a "straight run"?  I do know what a "split" is.

Now, you are coming off your block/run on the 56 Airline Limited.  You are coming off Downtown.  The timeclock is at the Falbrook BOF, I presume?  How does the timeclock know you are coming off?

On the freight railroads, time on the "limos" or "carryalls" are considered "paid time".  You shuttle time should be also.

And, for transit drivers, is there a "hog law", that is, a limited number of hours you can run in a day?

Thanks,

The problem with a Day-Pass is what do you charge for it and what routes is it valid for?  Could a Park&Ride patron that pays $3.50 to go one way buy one for triple the base fare?  With the old 100 series express fares being $1.50 for express routes and $1.00 the rest of the time, it was a problem.  If you charge for 5 or 6 local trips during the day, I don't think many folks will buy it.

I guess the Q-Card could be programed to have a third contract where the transfer time was set to be 24 hours when you loaded it up at a Kiosk.  The current Q-Card reader is not set up to be a point of sale device where you add money to it on the spot.  The driver would have to punch some buttons to tell the Q-reader to subtract say $5.00 instead of the normal $1.00 and set the expiration time to 24 hours instead of 2 hours.  I think logistically it might work to load the $5.00 at a transit center kiosk, but if you are getting on a local bus way out in the suburbs, I don't see it working well.

The whole point of tapping the Q-Card is to speed up the boarding process and stop riders from fumbling for change and holding up the line.

As far as scamming the Q-Card system, if there is a way to do it, the crooks and scam artists will find some way to do it.  I have seen one person enter the 163 bus with a Q-Card and tap it upright, red light, tap it sideways, red light, tap it upright and backwards, red light.  A puzzled look at the driver and she was told to hold it up at a diagonal.  After several more tries, she was told to take a seat and rode for free.  So will they obtain an unregistered Q-Card and load $2.00 on it and ride for a week before being denied service?  I'll bet they will.  What can Metro do?  Put a Metro Cop on every bus to stop fraud?  Maybe a few $200 fines will stop the fraud for a while.

Mr. Collins,

I'm all for any reliable system that ensures each passenger pays to ride.

I was merely critical of METREAUX taking over FOUR years longer than they promised to implement a SVC payment system for the tram riders.

The next priority is to ensure compliance with the laughable "honor system."

If they believed people complied with the honor system, why the near-NSA security at the Lee. P. Brown Administration building?

Good point, Royko.  The security at the 1900 Main office is very tight.  Probably a sign of the times.

Portland, Oregon uses the same honor system on their light rail and uses similar spot checks to police the free riders.  The cheapest way to construct light rail is to do as Portland and Houston have done and have the rails at ground level.  

Having to design, construct, and maintain an elevated rail line with controlled access to platforms like Chicago would cost many times more than the Houston model.  Digging subways in Houston with our high ground water table would cost even more.  Having subways or elevated platforms with access gates is the only way to force riders to pay for each ride.  So we use an honor system to try to get people to pay the $1.00 in lieu of having an elevated rail cost $5.00 per ride.

Houston should have realized in the 1960's that light rail would be better than expanding the Katy freeway numerous times.  When the HOV lanes were installed on all the freeways, they should have put in light rail lines down the center.  If you want to force people out of the comfort of their single cars, put in rail lines and limit the freeway lanes.  

When it takes 2 hours to drive home in your car by yourself from downtown to the West Belt every day while you are being passed by trains full of people every 3 minutes, you will leave the car at the transit center and take the train.

domonic,

#1 a staight run is what it is a straight!!  no splits!!

#2 it is already programed in the run at sign-up!! if there is a problem...no relief downtown, the operator is required to make 1 trip and  calls dispatch to inform them.  and intern, dispatch calls the starter at FB.

#3 yes railroad crew are paid...and we were until the "hacker"  shirley delibro came!! in most cases it was only 20 minutes or so.

#4 hog laws...actually we do not run a log book.  but, shirley instituted a 71/2 hour rule that meant we had to have at least 71/2 hours rest between tours of duty.....UNTIL THEY GET IN A BIND AND THEN ITS WAIVED!!  HOWEVER, IF YOU HIT SOMETHING OR RUN OVER SOMEBODY HILE THEY WAIVED IT, YOU ARE ON YOUR OWN

!!!

#5 AND YES THE NEW GENERATION RTS  W/C IS AT THE REAR DOOR. AND HEY I LOVED THOSE BUCKETS WE HAD....WHEN THE LAST ONE LEFT, WE WERE IN TEARS!!!

P.S. "HOG LAWS" lol!!!!

I appreciate your comments Mizz_Porkie.  I really have nothing against the drivers who are forced to work under an increasingly stressful environment at Metro.  I sympathize with you guys because not only are you dealing with BS from the public, but from your own employer as well.

Those 20 years that Metro had the RTS buses truly represented the "golden age" of the agency.  They were the buses that lifted Metro out of its infancy and propelled it through an unprecedented growth period.  They were the face of Metro for those 20 years; always classy, always reliable and dependable.  They represented strength and efficiency, something Metro is sorely lacking right now.  A bus driver looked like a bus driver in those old work horses.

Metro wiped them out in 2001 and "modernized" the fleet with hundreds upon hundreds of New Flyers and on time performance is worse, I see more broken and towed buses, and many are in shabby condition.  And don't even get me started on the horrible articulated buses.  Some have just turned 10 years old and already need a date with the scrap yard.  The RTS was in the prime of its life at 10!  An RTS retired at twelve years old was unthinkable!  Will the artics even make it to 12?

You've hacked and slashed and modernized and pushed through light rail and what do you have to show for it?  A few hybrids buses, a subpar fleet of diesel buses, some wacky gadgets, a light rail starter set, horrendous bus service, terrible employee morale, and a new fare system that will alienate many of your riders.

I'd give up our starter set and any future light rail to have the RTS era of Metro back.  When Metro was dependable and service changes meant more than service cuts and a new park and ride route.  Where's the innovation?  You're a bus company, not a technology company and not a railroad company that begrudgingly operates a bus system.  I think the current administration needs to go work for Union Pacific, it seems like they'd be at home there.  

I never thought I'd actively despise Metro, but I do.  I'm so dissapointed in you guys.  This better be a "hot summer" as far as service changes go.  Give me something to pay for.

When the HOV's were built, they should have been:

1.  Bidirectional

2.  Elevated.

Example:  The 290 HOV lane from NWTC to the Dacoma Wishbone Ramp.

That way, if something breaks down, the lane does not close down.

And if METRO wanted BRT or some sort of rail later, the elevated part would be done.

Millenium Transit Services makes the RTS.  Wheelchair lifts can be in EITHER door.  There is also an RTS "P&R" type.  Both use same modular frame, engines, et. al.  That would save on having to buy parts.  One set of systems to work on, so the buses at Kashmire and the BOF's can get rolling easier.

I did not see a hybird verson at the website.  With METRO, that is a non-starter.

service changes......don't hold your breath!!!

it will be cut AGAIN!!

I actually received my card at the Treasury window, as they could not find my information of myself or my wife being a Q-booster.  That is kinda crazy, because I had almost 50 trips on it, and had just recharged it at Kroger the week before, leaving 8 or 9 dollars on it.