🚀 go-pugleaf

In article <jwhitesi-0606962317100001@cnc098067.concentric.net>,
jwhitesi@concentric.net (John Whiteside) wrote:

>In article <4p6p34$j89@gwis2.circ.gwu.edu>, popc@gwis2.circ.gwu.edu (Ann E
>Robertson) wrote:
>
>> What do you think we use to buy farecards, air?  It takes several people 
>> (and armed guards) to remove the cash from the farecard vendors.  Guess 
>> you've never been in a station late at night when the money train (with 
>> its dark cars and armed guards) pulls in, the guards jump off, the cash 
>> boxes loaded, and everything whisked off into the night.
>
>Oh, I know! My point is that with a token system, you've got the money --
>and the tokens! You need a whole other system to account for another
>"currency." Electronic fare collection, like farecards, save a bundle.
>It's a good thing. You'd probably be paying more to ride Metro if you
>didn't have it.

And when one or two or three cashiers at every station are handling company
money, the administrative costs go up accordingly, to make sure the money
is not stolen.  You have accounting paperwork for both the cashier and the
company, people to reconcile the paperwork with the cash, and detectives to
check up on the cashiers.  (that's why as I've said before, transit
agencies are very anxious to go to a cashless system.  With ticket vending
machines, though, nobody from the company has to handle the money until it
reaches the count room (money goes into sealed vaults), and whatever
paperwork you need is generated automatically.  That's a big savings.



You also have to build your cashier booths to a high security standard, 



    /_\      Matthew Mitchell, Newsletter Editor
   /[ ]\     Delaware Valley Association of Railroad Passengers
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