Caltrain

Background

As far back as 2001, the Translink pilot program was launched. This program entails a single smartcard (much like the Oyster card in London) that you can use to pay fare at all of the different public transit agencies in the SF Bay Area. The pilot took place at select BART, MUNI, Caltrain, Golden Gate Transit, AC Transit, and VTA routes/stations. The pilot ended officially ended in 2006; BART and MUNI turned off their card readers sometime in the middle of the year, whereas Caltrain and VTA turned off (or were supposed to, in the case of Caltrain) their readers in October of 2006. It was also around this time that AC Transit and Golden Gate Transit fully launched Translink on all their routes and vehicles, meaning that anyone with a Translink card could now pay for fare on their routes with the card. Caltrain sent out a letter to all card members in November 2006 informing them that the card readers were no longer functional and that it was no longer possible to pay for Caltrain fares using Translink. People who have joined Translink since aren't told anything with regard to the matter.

I don't know what happened with VTA, since I never use it. BART did in fact turn off their readers – tagging your card on them results in a "see station agent" red error message at the faregate. MUNI readers simply refuse to recognize the card, though apparently original pilot users can still use their cards. Caltrain apparently turned off some readers, but not others. For example, the reader on the passenger overpass at Millbrae does indeed say "Out of service" and doesn't let you do anything. The story is different in Palo Alto, however. One of the two readers on the southbound platform is turned off but the other one isn't, and at least one of the readers on the northbound platforms is functional as well (don't know about the other one).

Officially, the Translink website says that you can use Translink on AC Transit and Golden Gate Transit and that BART, MUNI, and Caltrain are "coming in 2007." Knowing how out-of-date these sites can be, one could reasonably assume that the readers at Palo Alto were part of this "coming" stage, especially since we're almost halfway through 2007 anyway.

I got my card pretty much as soon as Translink became available to the general public, though I don't have an exact date unfortunately. I must have gotten it around the end of November, since I definitely never got the famed Caltrain letter (not that it makes much of a difference, but still). I successfully used it for the first time in January 2007 after boarding an AC Transit bus with an expired Berkeley Class Pass from the fall semester and having to pay for the bus.

Previous Translink usage on Caltrain

When I went to the Facebook Tech Tasting on February 21, 2007, I was really excited about going on Caltrain for the first time. I'd never been on it before, and being a bit of transit geek, the experience of just taking it was fairly exciting. I remember being bummed at the fact that I couldn't use Translink at Millbrae but went on. On the way back, I was much overjoyed to find out that I could use my card to come home. I gleefully selected my destination zone, tapped my card, and watched the updated balance on the screen. At the time, I remember being a bit troubled by the fact that there was absolutely no record of the transaction, save for my visual memory. About halfway to Millbrae, a fare inspector came on board and asked for tickets. I showed him my Translink card, at which he looked carefully, then turned it over to see if there was anything on the back (there's an optional "Name" field there, but it was blank), and went on. Cool, I thought to myself. And that's all there was to it.

"Fare evader" incident

The story was much different on Saturday, May 19, 2007. The situation was the same – the reader at Millbrae was still non-functional, and the reader at Palo Alto still happily deducted money from my account. It's funny that at the time, it had crossed my mind that I should probably take a picture of the "new balance" screen on the Translink reader, but I didn't have my camera on me so I quickly dismissed the idea.

I got on train 439 at 4.31p in Palo Alto. At approximately the same point as during the previous trip, fare inspectors came on board and asked for tickets. Just like the last time, I showed my Translink card. However, this time, the fare inspector, Sarah, was not satisfied. She said that since "all Translink readers are turned off," I have not paid my fare and could consequently either:

• give her some form of ID and have her write a citation for not paying my fare
• get off the train, buy a ticket on the platform, and get on the next train

Neither of these options seemed particularly fair or appealing. Getting a citation for a violation which I didn't commit seemed rather ludicrous. Getting off the train wasn't really an option either since Caltrain service on the weekends is hourly, and I was supposed to meet people in Berkeley at 7.

She gave me some time to "think about" what I wanted to do. I'm not really sure what exactly she was thinking when she said this, but there wasn't much to think about. I had paid my fare. Since Translink is designed by the great folks at ERG, there wasn't a number that I could call that would tell me (for example) the last transaction on my account (what's worse, the balance provided over the phone isn't up-to-date either, but the closing balance for the previous day), and since I didn't have a camera, there wasn't a picture that I could show her demonstrating that the readers were clearly functional (and deducted money off my account!). She threatened to call the cops, and I told her to go right ahead, also asking her to call someone at the Palo Alto station and have them take a look at the card readers. Obviously, she didn't give a flying fuck about what I wanted and just wanted to show who was the boss, so she simply called the cops and considered her job done.

By this time, we had reached Belmont station. Passengers got on and off. There was a passenger in our car that apparently didn't have a ticket and went for the citation. In the meantime, the train was held up while we were waiting for the cops to arrive. According to the Belmont PD, they received the call at 4.56. While we were waiting, I struck up conversation with the woman in the seat behind me and explained to her what the Translink program was. Someone from the middle of the car told me to be considerate of other passengers and just get off; I told them to complain to Caltrain customer service. While I'm all about being altruistic and considerate, my time is worth something too, damnit. Why the hell do I have to wait an hour because Caltrain can't get their fare collection system together?

Sarah then proceeded to go on the PA system and announce that the train was being held up due to a "fare evader." This was pretty low, since not only did I pay my fare, but also because she had no basis to shift the blame on me. In retrospect, given Caltrain's response to this, I'm not surprised in the behavior, but it was a bit of a shock to me at the time. Then, a hispanic man told me that it was in my best interest to get off the train before the cops came because when they did, I'd get a citation anyway. This actually freaked me out a little, since I had no idea what the cops were going to do and realized that they would do things first and ask questions later.

I stepped off the train, the doors in my car closed, and the train pulled out of the station. Some guy from the front half of my car jumped to the door and flipped me the bird. I turned my back to the train; someone else knocked on the window, but I didn't bother looking to see what they had to show me. I began dialing 511 on my cell to get in touch with Caltrain customer service at 4.59 when two cops came up the stairs onto the station platform. I noticed that they were both wearing K-9 uniforms; I couldn't be happier to know that I was getting a a K-9 unit dispatched to harass me. I explained to them what had happened; they contacted the train to make sure that the matter had been resolved to Caltrain's satisfaction, told me that they would not take any sides in the matter and were simply Caltrain's enforcement agents, and left.

I called 511 at 5.02 and filed a complaint. The woman on the phone apologized and suggested that I take a samTrans bus to Millbrae so that I could arrive there about 10 earlier than the next train. Being pissed off at Caltrain in general and not feeling like waiting for nearly an hour, I went down to the street level and got on the bus. While waiting for it, I noticed another police car pull up with an actual dog in the back seat. Wow, they were really serious about this, eh?

I arrived at Millbrae 50 minutes later than if I had been allowed to stay on the train, missing 3 BART trains. I finally left Millbrae on the 6.11 train, though I did find it interesting that the Caltrain that was supposed to arrive at 6.08 never actually did, making taking the bus the right choice.

I arrived at my final destination in Berkeley around 7.30, half an hour late for my meeting. The funny thing is that when I set up the time from Palo Alto, I figured two and half hours would suffice for getting me to Berkeley. Apparently I was wrong.

Caltrain's follow-up

When I filed my complaint, I provided my email address so that Caltrain could get back in touch with me. It took them a whopping three business days to get back to me, and the answer was so canned and typical, it was almost like salt on the wound. As I mentioned above, they shifted the blame to the Translink operator instead of taking responsibility for their actions. Here's their response:

“	Thank you for contacting Caltrain concerning a problem with TransLink in Palo Alto. We're sorry that you had difficulty with your trip. The Translink units, however, were placed entirely by the TransLink agency; Caltrain has no control over the units. Complaints about the units being operational should be addressed to TransLink directly. See https://www.translink.org/contactUs.do for contact information for them. In November of 2006, card holders were sent letters from TransLink explaining that the test program with Caltrain was over and cards were no longer valid for use at Caltrain stations. We're sorry if you did not receive this notification. To correct your balance, you will need to call TransLink directly. Caltrain will be rejoining the TransLink program sometime at the end of 2007. In the meantime, please see http://www.translink.org/useTranslinkWhereToUse.do for information about locations where TransLink is accepted. Again, our apologies for the inconvenience this caused you. Cordially, Leigh Ann Hildebrand Caltrain/SamTrans Customer Service hildebrandl@samtrans.net	”
—Leigh Ann Hildebrand, in an email dated Wed, 23 May 2007 17:29:15 -0700

Well, well...how nice of them to take care of the problem and making sure I was happy. Of course, the thing I've wanted to know all along was that it's not their fault and that it's my job to go calling up Translink and trying to get my money back (not that this was ever about the money anyway, but that's beside the point). I'm also curious what this "TransLink agency" she speaks of is exactly, considering the fact that it doesn't actually exist.

I responded to her immediately. I haven't heard back from her yet, and to be honest, I don't really expect much out of them. It's too bad I won't be using them – it was nice knowing you, Caltrain. Here's my response:

“	Hello Leigh, While I appreciate you getting back to me on this matter (a prompt three days later), it seems too perfect to shift the blame on someone else. While Caltrain might not have "any control" over the units, it is your responsibility to make sure that the units are in fact no longer functional if your fare policy dictates that they be so. I became a Translink member after November 2006, and consequently never got the letter. New transit users are joining Translink every day, and will never be receiving this letter. If you think some letter (whose delivery isn't guaranteed anyway) is enough to free yourself from all responsibility, you could not be more wrong. Imagine if one day Caltrain decided to stop accepting cash and didn't turn off their TVMs - what would happen? This situation is exactly the same. To correct my balance, you need to contact Translink directly and tell them exactly what happened. Why would they believe me when I will tell them that I got kicked off the train? All they know is that my fare was deducted from my account. The way I was treated that day was completely unacceptable; the fact that I have to do anything at all to rectify the situation is absolutely despicable, never mind the countless number of people who were delayed as the train was being held up for the police to arrive. I would like to also mention that the fare inspector on my train took the liberty of informing the passengers that the train was being held up due to a "fare evader," resulting in people flipping me the bird after I got off the train. Let me remind you of one crucial fact: I actually paid my fare. People who beta test new technology are usually given some sort of reward. In the case of Caltrain, I was punished and am now being told that the matter isn't even your fault and that it's up to me to resolve the situation. I was expecting better than this. FYI, I will not be riding on Caltrain any longer until you get your fare collection policies in order and take responsibility for your actions.	”
—Paul Borokhov