Metro's first 'interactive chat': Not so interactive or chatty

Metro's first Interactive Chat ever -- featuring Pam O'Connor, Chair of the Metro Board of Directors -- wasn't so much a chat as a moderated Q and A.

I thought we'd have an online convo with a whole bunch of people going back and forth, but alas, every comment made went through moderation before popping up. Pam would then respond to each comment before a new one would come up on the board.

That, plus the fact that the "chat" was interspersed with e-mails people sent in beforehand -- each followed by Pam's pre-written PR-responses -- meant this chat was anything but a conversation. You know, the kind where one comment actually leads to the next comment or question logically, versus just random questions and answers with no relation to each other....

This, I think, may have discouraged people from commenting at all. More than 100 people entered the chatroom, but as you can see by the chat archive here, not much got said.... Or maybe the screener was just extremely slow?

I did learn one thing though: The TAP cards -- basically a little payment gadget people will be able to use on many different transit systems in the L.A. area -- will be implemented by the end of 2008, probably. This will help me bridge the Big Blue Bus - Metro system divide; right now I carry both Metro bus tokens and the Little Blue Card; since I bike a lot, I don't take the bus enough to warrant a $70 monthly EZ transit pass.

Something to look forward to for the new year, I guess. In the meantime, I'm wondering if there's a way to run a moderated chatroom that actually facilitates conversation. I can understand not wanting, say, porn spammers to take over an unmoderated chat, but surely there's a way to actually let people chat in a chatroom?

Image from Metro.net

Comments

[James]

Too bad it was moderated, that's a real shame. I can kind of understand, but it seems that if a poster were to get obscene, or try to highjack the convo, it would be easy enough to just pull the plug on them, and delete their comments.

I didn't even know about this event, did you post something and I missed it?

So what's the deal with TAP cards?

I've seen those little stations as you go into the metro rail that look like some kind of card reader, and are labeled "TAP". I assume this stands for "Transit Access Pass". But I haven't heard anything about them, ie; cost, what they access, etc. Anything knowledge you could share would be appreciated.

Does MTA have a link? Obviously they've been planning this for some time.

[Robert 'Groby' Blum]

The problem with banning people after the fact is that the legal department will raise a fuss - Metro could potentially be held liable for offending other participants in the chat. Never mind that that would probably never hold up in court, but it's the job of the legal department to make up threats.

[PC]

The website for TAP is at http://www.taptogo.net. I use a similar card in Chicago (where I live now), and it's superfast -- not to mention far easier than keeping track of small bills, coins, tokens, paper transfer receipts, etc.

It's cool that Metro is going one further and integrating the different bus systems, too; there have been times I've passed up a more direct Big Blue Bus going because I wouldn't be able to use my Metro day pass.

Great to see an LA blog focus on "de-car-ing"!

[m]

I just bought my weekly pass at Union Station today. Instead of giving out the paper weekly/monthly passes, they are giving TAP cards now. They handed out a brochure with the card with some basic info.

The deal is that you put money (pass fare) on it and then tap the card on the machines every time you get on a train or bus. [This is kinda lame since part of the reason I like passes is that you don't have to get them out and do anything with them unless someone asks to see it. I am notorious for losing cards when I have to take them out for some reason. Supposedly this info is going to be used to determine if they have enough buses/trains around at the times needed.] The awesome part about it is that you can "reload" it a bunch of different ways. This was always an issue for me because either the windows at Union Station would be closed or the stores I bought passes in would be out of passes when I needed them. You can call the TAP people and have them reload your card, pay to reload the card at the regular train station ticket machines or reload it at Union Station. For now you will still get paper passes at grocery stores if that is where you pick them up. They also have a system where you call and register your card so in case you lose it, they can give you your remaining pass value back. They will ask you for your name, other info and a password. The weekly pass and monthly pass buying schedules and validity schedules are still the same (monthly starts on the first, weekly passes start on sunday) I'll see how it works out next week!

[LAPassenger.com]

Metro is also proposing installing turnstiles at the entrances to Metro rail lines. Metrolink is opposed to this as currently thousands of people transfer to the Metro rail lines at Union Station each morning. Metrolink's preliminary impact study estimated that during the morning peak, it would take 69 minutes for all the Metrolink passengers to pass through these gates. Plus it means hundreds of thousands, if not millions, to upgrade the Metrolink ticket machines, which do not dispense RFID type tickets that the turnstiles would use.

Adding turnstiles at the stations would just slow us commuters down. The added costs for partnering transit agencies to comply with a new ticket will just increase ticket prices for all commuters.