The machines had been shrouded in white tarps for weeks. On Wednesday night, about a dozen members of the transit agency’s riders advisory group got to try out the gates.
“This is about looking at the design, the ease of use and the experience of using it,” Alison Simon, Metro’s director of customer research, told a group of riders before taking them through the new fare gates.
Metro is expected to pick a vendor in July to lead the costly and complicated job of modernizing its fare-collection system. Riders will no longer have to convert their money into Metro’s main currency — the $5 electronic SmarTrip card — to ride trains and buses. Instead, they will be able to wave a smart phone, key fob or credit card in front of a scanner as they board a bus or walk through a subway station fare gate. It will be the first time that Metro has revamped its fare payment system since Metrorail service began 37 years ago.
Riders now use Metro’s brown and orange fare gates and tap their electronic SmarTrip cards or stick in paper Farecards to enter rail stations. But many riders complain that the gates don’t open quickly enough. Other riders say they close too fast for those in wheelchairs or with strollers.
In the dim light of Metro’s basement, the nine new gates gleamed. Some riders — who jokingly called themselves “transit geeks” — said it felt as if they were test-driving the latest car models at a dealership.
Many of the new fare gates have more sensors than the existing Metro fare gates and can better detect strollers, guide dogs and wheelchairs, and stay open longer as needed. Some beeped. One had tempered glass at eye height — a move meant to deter fare evasion. Others lighted up red, blue or green.
Unfortunately my husband and I fell into the debt trap - badly. It started with not being able to buy food and afford rent - and we were living in a tiny, tiny flat. So we started buying food on our Woolies cards.
When our salaries increased we continued the habit of buying groceries and all kinds of stuff on credit. We made a habit of living beyond our means, and somehow more and more places kept giving us credit, which was impossible to resist. We also had to pay for our own wedding - we did it as cheaply as we could and had the whole family and friends jump in to help, but it still cost a lost.
When the company I worked for closed down I was forced to take another job that paid significantly less and so we were compelled to go into debt counselling. This was the best decision we could have made at that time!
I see it all the time – people who live far above their means but moan about their debt endlessly. Then they go and buy an expensive lunch every work day of the week and tell you all about the take aways and shopping they enjoyed over the weekend. A few minutes later they will complain they have no savings and worry what will happen if they ever need to go to hospital (as a medical aid isn’t high on their list of essentials). I don’t understand it but I’ve given up trying.
When I was in Grade 9 we were taught how to draw up a budget. The simple guideline was to spend less than you earn. Please note that I am not in any way dismissing that there are many people who don’t earn enough to afford the basics and battle daily to put food on their tables. What I’m talking about is how people will wilfully go into debt just to have things they don’t need.
I cannot grasp is how people can spend thousands on a pair of boots they don’t need but have to have because of the name. Or buy a new car when they can barely afford the instalments on the old one. Or rent a massive house in a smart area but have no retirement plan or anything put towards their old age. Some people go into debt to have a big wedding or an expensive holiday.
Everything has become about status and what you have. When did we start caring so much about what others think? When did keeping up with the Joneses become a way of life for so many people?
I’ve learnt that if I don’t have money for something, I wait until I do before buying it. Yes I’m one of those people who don’t own store cards. But I’m also one of those people who don’t get heart palpitations when opening their mail because they are dreading a huge account. Obviously taking out a loan to buy a house or vehicle is the norm but to get into debt just because you have to have the latest electronics to boast to your friends about? Well that is just sad.
This will allow drivers to access apps like music streaming service rara, which gives access to a library of 17 million songs while on the move, plus a Mobile Office App which lets you dictate and send emails and text messages using just the SIM card built into the car.
The system also allows BMW to send software updates and diagnose faults remotely. The firm claims ConnectDrive won’t add any more to the new price of a car. Instead, BMW plans to recoup the cost of developing the system – a figure in “the three-digit millions of Euros” according to one BMW insider – by selling apps developed by BMW and third party firms, through a bespoke BMW app store accessed either in-car or on a special owner’s section of the BMW website.
For example, the rara music streaming service will cost around ￡390 to add as an option in the first year, with users paying a license fee set by the music industry of ￡9.99 per month after that. However, as part of the deal, BMW picks up the SIM card bill, even if you drive the car abroad, so there are no extra roaming charges.
BMW has said that the system is extremely secure – Simon Euringer, head of ConnnectedDrive told us that it’d cost more to hack the system than to buy it in the first place – and that it can be updated by BMW to reflect changes in legislation.
Euringer added that the new ConnectedDrive had been developed to enhance its new i cars. The i ConnectedDrive includes an intermodal route planner, which lets you know if taking the tube or train is a quicker way of travelling that driving.Click on their website www.ecived.com/en for more information.
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