I must be truly angry about the changes to the Opal card, because I'm writing a second blog about it!
I keep reading about "Opal Runners" & why it's a big thing, & trying to find out some useful numbers to counter-argue the government's knee-jerk reaction to the idea that "some people" are gaming the system.
It appears that "the system" is strictly the light rail. Why they didn't think this would happen for the light rail after "gaming" had been going on for so long on the trains, I don't know - there's some short-sightedness to begin with.
In the argument that the problem that occurs on the light rail extends to the heavy rail, they used some stats from two very close railway stations - 400m apart - saying that this was an example of the same problem: people who would run between the stations to 'pretend' to travel on the rail.
This is silly.
Why pretend to travel? Who does this? You would need to be pretty desperate to run that distance several times just to earn money (a pittance) or save money.
The reality is much more co-ordinated & generally involves less exertion. Let's face it, those who are determined to save a few dollars on train travel are probably lazy & inventive.
Scenario 1: lunch-time train trips. There are four people in the office who travel by train. In pairs, take the other pair's opal cards & catch a train to the next station using your own card. Leave the station, come back in using the other pair's cards, & travel back to the point of origin. Two hours later, the other pair does the same with all four cards. You get a little exercise, some conversation, some time away from the office, some sunshine, ... lots of benefits. This works even better when the station you go to has a tapping post on the platform. This also works best where there are frequent trains in the middle of the day.
Scenario 2: Monday evening driving. You & a friend (or more) drive between stations where the station entrance is near the road, alternately tapping on & off at each station. This works best farther out of the CBD. In particular, you will put in more effort farther out because your commuter trip into the city is so expensive.
Scenario 3: actual exercise (solo). If you're between two stations in the CBD, walk to one, catch a train to the other, then circle back to the office. If you time things right, you can get your cup of coffee on the way & enjoy it outside. If you happen to work around Martin Place, the variety of such trips will keep you amused all day.
None of these scenarios involves running or short distances between stations. Also, not only are the 'games' hard to stop - because they look like natural patterns of behaviour - but the onus is on the card owner to participate directly to get the benefit, & get some exercise to boot (rather than paying someone to do the work).
I am dead against profiteering. Entrepreneurs who live off loopholes make me uneasy. People who take full benefit of the rules as written to minimise the pain that those rules impose on them, however, have my full support.
If all you want to do is to stop the entrepreneurs, then simply break their advantage & ensure that a card can't reach its maximum paid journeys on Monday. It's that simple. If there need to be 'mulitple efforts' on their part, they will leave the system, & those 'gaming' it for a small discount by having some exercise over several days can continue on their merry way walking.
Saturday, May 21, 2016
Opal Run & Hide
It's not often that I get the chance to mix my travel blog with my philosophy-politics thoughts. You'd think it would happen more often, but I don't often whinge about public transport, let alone politicise my journeys ... until now!
After many people had warned me it would happen, the government has finally decided to make the Opal card a formal joke of a system. It was meant to provide a simpler, cheaper mechanism for the regular traveller (that is, peak-hour commuter) to avoid the weekly ticket-office line-up & potentially save money with encouraging off-peak travel costs.
Even better, as someone explained to me shortly after the system was put in place, you could cover your eight paid-for train trips by doing off-peak short journeys - say, at lunch-time - & save a few dollars more.
Indeed, it was a well-thought-out system for the entrepreneurs & those with free time. Not your average commuter, but someone would get a bonus & some exercise out of it.
... until now. Real soon, those commuters using the system during the day will be slugged not only with the full fare for the trips on the first four days of the week, but will get a bonus expense on the fifth! No more free-day Fridays. I don't care how much of a discount it is, it will no longer be free.
How did this happen? How did a system that seemed to be working (with minimal complaints) suddenly turn into something that is an embarrassment & possibly an election issue? Or was this the evil plan all along?
I would love to see some stats on how many "Opal runners" there are, as a percentage of "regular" users - broken down, if you like:
If there are 292million journeys on Sydney trains per year, that has to equate to close to a million journeys - or half a million return journeys - per day. I wish I could find better numbers. The state government seems to be claiming that a VERY large number could be Opal runners - that is, at least one in ten people who use the train can get to a station during their lunch break & do a round trip back to the office, or else can hand off their card to a friend (or professional) to do likewise.
Actually, what they're saying is that the light rail seems open to abuse, & that trains ... could be.
We should not be discouraging this practice! This is entrepreneurship at its best! I commend those who intentionally put that "loophole" in place. Let's face it, it doesn't take a very clever person much to work out that the system can be beaten easily. If it takes a bit of walking or running or whatever, then so much the better.
Boo! to the government that punishes free thinkers & those with spare time in their lunch breaks.
The solution, by the way, is to simply count at most two journeys per day to the magic count of eight. It's that simple. It gets rid of the opal runners' ability to load a card a Monday & pass it on with no responsibility. It forces people to travel on four days to get the fifth free. Problem solved!
After many people had warned me it would happen, the government has finally decided to make the Opal card a formal joke of a system. It was meant to provide a simpler, cheaper mechanism for the regular traveller (that is, peak-hour commuter) to avoid the weekly ticket-office line-up & potentially save money with encouraging off-peak travel costs.
Even better, as someone explained to me shortly after the system was put in place, you could cover your eight paid-for train trips by doing off-peak short journeys - say, at lunch-time - & save a few dollars more.
Indeed, it was a well-thought-out system for the entrepreneurs & those with free time. Not your average commuter, but someone would get a bonus & some exercise out of it.
... until now. Real soon, those commuters using the system during the day will be slugged not only with the full fare for the trips on the first four days of the week, but will get a bonus expense on the fifth! No more free-day Fridays. I don't care how much of a discount it is, it will no longer be free.
How did this happen? How did a system that seemed to be working (with minimal complaints) suddenly turn into something that is an embarrassment & possibly an election issue? Or was this the evil plan all along?
I would love to see some stats on how many "Opal runners" there are, as a percentage of "regular" users - broken down, if you like:
- How many people take at least a return journey on each of Monday to Friday?
- How many of those take ONLY a return journey on each of Monday to Friday?
- How many people take "extra" short trips during the middle of the day (or at night)?
- How many of those ONLY take such short trips from Monday to Wednesday?
If there are 292million journeys on Sydney trains per year, that has to equate to close to a million journeys - or half a million return journeys - per day. I wish I could find better numbers. The state government seems to be claiming that a VERY large number could be Opal runners - that is, at least one in ten people who use the train can get to a station during their lunch break & do a round trip back to the office, or else can hand off their card to a friend (or professional) to do likewise.
Actually, what they're saying is that the light rail seems open to abuse, & that trains ... could be.
We should not be discouraging this practice! This is entrepreneurship at its best! I commend those who intentionally put that "loophole" in place. Let's face it, it doesn't take a very clever person much to work out that the system can be beaten easily. If it takes a bit of walking or running or whatever, then so much the better.
Boo! to the government that punishes free thinkers & those with spare time in their lunch breaks.
The solution, by the way, is to simply count at most two journeys per day to the magic count of eight. It's that simple. It gets rid of the opal runners' ability to load a card a Monday & pass it on with no responsibility. It forces people to travel on four days to get the fifth free. Problem solved!
Friday, May 6, 2016
Heads Up!
The exit from my local station is a long ramp up to an overpass. I was in the middle of the pack leaving my train the other day, slowly weaving my way through the slower movers when it occurred to me how many of them were bent over almost double & staring at the ground.
Admittedly, I have trained myself not to look at my feet when I'm going down stairs, & I consciously straighten up against a natural desire to walk bent going up hill, but I had no real idea both of how prevalent that bending was, or to the degree most people bend. I mean, I know none of them can touch their toes, but do they have to walk as if they're on the verge of doing so?
I read an article about how the use of personal devices on trains means that people are straining their necks & bending their spines by constantly looking down. Personally, I don't buy into this, because I've always had books on trains, & many people had newspapers, so looking downwards has been there for as long as there's been trains.
However, walking with a device is a new thing - people now happily walk down the street peering into their clasped hands - & it's everyone else praying that they don't get walked into!
With this propensity to perambulating without a clue of your surrounds, it's no wonder that people watch their shoes when they haven't got their device blocking the view.
I thought about this more as I got clear of the rabble & started walking along the road. People don't think of walking as something they do - it's simply something they have to do to get from the train to the car. We have lost the art of walking as an activity - looking at the world around you & noticing stuff.
When I'm walking by a road, my eyes are somewhere around street level - cars going past. When I am walking in open space, my eyes are often in the distance or up in the sky. The only time when I might consider staring at the ground immediately before my feet is when I am moving very slowly through treacherous footing ... even then, it has to be particularly rough for the eyes to be of any use as to where to put the feet.
Let's face it, most of us have been pretty good at walking for most of our lives. Why is it that we still think of it as a difficult task that needs our full attention? Do we realise in ourselves that, through not walking, we have become so bad at doing it that we need to concentrate on each individual step in case we fall over or our feet fly off?
I say "practice". Just walk & realise that you are doing it. Appreciate your skill for motivating in a generally forward direction, & soon you will be so pleased with yourself that you will again be able to hold your head up high!
Admittedly, I have trained myself not to look at my feet when I'm going down stairs, & I consciously straighten up against a natural desire to walk bent going up hill, but I had no real idea both of how prevalent that bending was, or to the degree most people bend. I mean, I know none of them can touch their toes, but do they have to walk as if they're on the verge of doing so?
I read an article about how the use of personal devices on trains means that people are straining their necks & bending their spines by constantly looking down. Personally, I don't buy into this, because I've always had books on trains, & many people had newspapers, so looking downwards has been there for as long as there's been trains.
However, walking with a device is a new thing - people now happily walk down the street peering into their clasped hands - & it's everyone else praying that they don't get walked into!
With this propensity to perambulating without a clue of your surrounds, it's no wonder that people watch their shoes when they haven't got their device blocking the view.
I thought about this more as I got clear of the rabble & started walking along the road. People don't think of walking as something they do - it's simply something they have to do to get from the train to the car. We have lost the art of walking as an activity - looking at the world around you & noticing stuff.
When I'm walking by a road, my eyes are somewhere around street level - cars going past. When I am walking in open space, my eyes are often in the distance or up in the sky. The only time when I might consider staring at the ground immediately before my feet is when I am moving very slowly through treacherous footing ... even then, it has to be particularly rough for the eyes to be of any use as to where to put the feet.
Let's face it, most of us have been pretty good at walking for most of our lives. Why is it that we still think of it as a difficult task that needs our full attention? Do we realise in ourselves that, through not walking, we have become so bad at doing it that we need to concentrate on each individual step in case we fall over or our feet fly off?
I say "practice". Just walk & realise that you are doing it. Appreciate your skill for motivating in a generally forward direction, & soon you will be so pleased with yourself that you will again be able to hold your head up high!
Monday, May 2, 2016
Just Be Nice
I was at a wedding, after having talked to someone's mother for an interminable time, & I explained to my wife that I had just performed my daily act of kindness. She looked at me quizzically, so I had to back-track & mention Edward de Bono (at which her eyes usually roll).
In this case, however, it's worth the diversion. De Bono may have been Maltese, but he is most likely an atheist. However, he did appreciate & support moral & ethical codes that may have been fostered within a religious context. He once proposed a religion (H+) based almost entirely on the doing of good deeds, &, as was often his idea with regards clubs, sharing the experience with friends to talk it over, expand the network, & make the world a better place.
My wife loved the idea!
She especially liked the concept of exposing our daughter to an environment where helping others is encouraged for its own sake, not just because we're good Catholics, or whatever.
What has this to do with travelling, I hear you ask ... except that I have to use my imagination & then someone might point out that hearing voices is definitely a sign that you're taking your religion too seriously ... but I digress.
I was about to get on the train this afternoon, standing slightly to the side of the door, as I do, waiting for people to get off, but making it clear that I'll jump on board as soon as it's clear, when I saw a pram struggle its way over the lip of the train door.
I gave it a polite moment to prove its dexterity, then simply assisted it across the gap to the firmer grounding of the platform - all without looking up to see who was pushing, or even whether there was a child in the pram. It could have been a homeless person, for all I care.
As I put the wheels down & the pram got under way, I heard a man say "Thanks for that, brother!" & a gentle slap on the back as he wheeled past. I could barely manage to get out my "No probs" before he'd gone & I was upright & stepping onto the train myself.
Nothing unusual, you might say - except that I wasn't the only one getting on the train. There were, as always, loiterers standing on the platform in front of the door, working out which way they should dart to get out of people's way. Not one of them made a move towards the pram, though.
This is where we are as a society, I fear. It takes someone with no religious conviction to point out to those of us who frequently attend church that there is a code of conduct that goes along with our beliefs, & perhaps it's time we had a good hard look at ourselves to see if there is some moral fibre that we can stretch out to help others on a daily basis.
Don't do it because you have to, but because you want to, because it gives you a little sense of private achievement, & because someone will smile back at you in gratitude ... eventually.
In this case, however, it's worth the diversion. De Bono may have been Maltese, but he is most likely an atheist. However, he did appreciate & support moral & ethical codes that may have been fostered within a religious context. He once proposed a religion (H+) based almost entirely on the doing of good deeds, &, as was often his idea with regards clubs, sharing the experience with friends to talk it over, expand the network, & make the world a better place.
My wife loved the idea!
She especially liked the concept of exposing our daughter to an environment where helping others is encouraged for its own sake, not just because we're good Catholics, or whatever.
What has this to do with travelling, I hear you ask ... except that I have to use my imagination & then someone might point out that hearing voices is definitely a sign that you're taking your religion too seriously ... but I digress.
I was about to get on the train this afternoon, standing slightly to the side of the door, as I do, waiting for people to get off, but making it clear that I'll jump on board as soon as it's clear, when I saw a pram struggle its way over the lip of the train door.
I gave it a polite moment to prove its dexterity, then simply assisted it across the gap to the firmer grounding of the platform - all without looking up to see who was pushing, or even whether there was a child in the pram. It could have been a homeless person, for all I care.
As I put the wheels down & the pram got under way, I heard a man say "Thanks for that, brother!" & a gentle slap on the back as he wheeled past. I could barely manage to get out my "No probs" before he'd gone & I was upright & stepping onto the train myself.
Nothing unusual, you might say - except that I wasn't the only one getting on the train. There were, as always, loiterers standing on the platform in front of the door, working out which way they should dart to get out of people's way. Not one of them made a move towards the pram, though.
This is where we are as a society, I fear. It takes someone with no religious conviction to point out to those of us who frequently attend church that there is a code of conduct that goes along with our beliefs, & perhaps it's time we had a good hard look at ourselves to see if there is some moral fibre that we can stretch out to help others on a daily basis.
Don't do it because you have to, but because you want to, because it gives you a little sense of private achievement, & because someone will smile back at you in gratitude ... eventually.
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