ION - Waterloo Region's Light Rail Transit

[robdrimmie]

The majority of their job is likely assisting with issues other than fares, and are goodwill ambassadors as well.

Anecdotally, this does not reflect my experience or interactions with ION fare collectors. They've all been pleasant, but very much specifically about whether or not a fare has been paid, and until that question is answered they don't appear to be interested in other conversation. I've seen them transition between trains only a couple of times, but in each case they got off a train and immediately got on the next one to arrive. In stations that service both directions, they've gotten on a differently directed train.

I agree that their jobs involve more than fares and they should be goodwill ambassadors, but fare validation is the bulk of the visible work that they do, in my experience.

[ijmorlan]

The majority of their job is likely assisting with issues other than fares, and are goodwill ambassadors as well.

Anecdotally, this does not reflect my experience or interactions with ION fare collectors. They've all been pleasant, but very much specifically about whether or not a fare has been paid, and until that question is answered they don't appear to be interested in other conversation. I've seen them transition between trains only a couple of times, but in each case they got off a train and immediately got on the next one to arrive. In stations that service both directions, they've gotten on a differently directed train.

Well of course they want their question answered first, especially on board a train where the fare is supposed to be already paid. I remember a video of some sovereign citizen doing their usual self-destructive thing with a very patient officer, and one of the comments pointed out hilariously that you “cannot filibuster a traffic stop”.

The question is the extent to which they will answer other questions after checking your fare, or if you meet them on the platform.

I’ve encountered them on the platform and they both helped us with the fare payment machines and answered a few general questions about the system.

[KevinT]

I tuned in to the radio scanner this morning on my drive to work and there was some sort of incident at the Seagram Dr crossing. Power was off for the southbound track with a maintenance crew working on it there, and they'd reduced service frequencies to 20 minutes so the northbound track could handle both directions between the Perimeter Institute and Northfield. They were setting up the bus bridge between Northfield and Waterloo Public Square / Willis Way when I tuned in but then called it off and went with the reduced service plan instead, and power was back on with the first train let through on the southbound track just as I arrived at work and tuned out.

Anyone know what the trigger incident was?

In my opinion they did an excellent job of keeping the service running, although being hopscotched up the line from station to station as 10 minute frequencies reduced to 20 must still have been frustrating for passengers. It was pretty fascinating and I'm glad I got to listen in, extreme professionalism was evident in every voice I heard.

[bgb_ca]

I tuned in to the radio scanner this morning on my drive to work and there was some sort of incident at the Seagram Dr crossing. Power was off for the southbound track with a maintenance crew working on it there, and they'd reduced service frequencies to 20 minutes so the northbound track could handle both directions between the Perimeter Institute and Northfield. They were setting up the bus bridge between Northfield and Waterloo Public Square / Willis Way when I tuned in but then called it off and went with the reduced service plan instead, and power was back on with the first train let through on the southbound track just as I arrived at work and tuned out.

Anyone know what the trigger incident was?

In my opinion they did an excellent job of keeping the service running, although being hopscotched up the line from station to station as 10 minute frequencies reduced to 20 must still have been frustrating for passengers. It was pretty fascinating and I'm glad I got to listen in, extreme professionalism was evident in every voice I heard.

I only got delayed by 5 mins but the person next to me said they were stuck at Mill station for 45 mins before a NB train showed up.

[trainspotter139]

[JoeKW]

How does that even happen?

[timc]

How does that even happen?

My guess is wind.

[KevinL]

There was very strong wind this morning, yes.

My slightly-delayed train crossed Seagram at about 11:45, they were just finishing setting up the replacement arm.

[bgb_ca]

How does that even happen?

My guess is wind.

If the wind did that, they must have used the cheapest wood they could find for that.

[trainspotter139]

My guess is wind.

If the wind did that, they must have used the cheapest wood they could find for that.

The arms themselves are for the most part aluminum. However, there are 2 points along the longer arms where they can shear off from torsion or where the rivets holding them together can pop.

[Bob_McBob]

A bunch of wonky behaviour at the University Ave crossing this afternoon. Train went through, signal arms went back up, then down a bit, then up, etc. Lots of cars hesitantly going through, then the arms eventually dropped again and another train came through.

[ac3r]

From the CBC:

The region will have workers checking every ION fare machine to make sure it's working properly after many reports from riders of problems with the system.

[...]

If the fare machines aren't working, Zinck suggested riders could have also have an alternate method of payment, such as cash if the debit or credit card machine doesn't work. He also noted people can load fare cards online, although there is a bit of lag time between doing that and the money showing up on the card.

Half a year later and they're only now deciding to have some staff members check whether or not the machines are working. For one, they should have been able to determine that the technology is totally messed up before launching, considering the stations were built about a year prior to the opening. Secondly, they surely knew things were not working correctly the moment the free period was over and thousands of people started to attempt to pay for things and use the products they did manage to purchase. Would it have been that hard to have the fare inspectors - as they sit at the station waiting for the next train - to get into the habit of taping some sort of testing card to determine whether a station was having issues?

They managed to built and get trains running just fine, but having something function as reliable as an Interac machine at Zehrs is somehow a challenge.

[jeffster]

From the CBC:

The region will have workers checking every ION fare machine to make sure it's working properly after many reports from riders of problems with the system.

[...]

If the fare machines aren't working, Zinck suggested riders could have also have an alternate method of payment, such as cash if the debit or credit card machine doesn't work. He also noted people can load fare cards online, although there is a bit of lag time between doing that and the money showing up on the card.

Half a year later and they're only now deciding to have some staff members check whether or not the machines are working. For one, they should have been able to determine that the technology is totally messed up before launching, considering the stations were built about a year prior to the opening. Secondly, they surely knew things were not working correctly the moment the free period was over and thousands of people started to attempt to pay for things and use the products they did manage to purchase. Would it have been that hard to have the fare inspectors - as they sit at the station waiting for the next train - to get into the habit of taping some sort of testing card to determine whether a station was having issues?

They managed to built and get trains running just fine, but having something function as reliable as an Interac machine at Zehrs is somehow a challenge.

I had noticed an error code and it did look like they're running some sort of Windows OS. I could be wrong. But one should never, ever run Windows in anything critical, it's too unreliable. Normally you'd use Unix or, Linux (Unix like) system. These systems are less prone to errors and tend to be more hardy.

[bgb_ca]

From the CBC:




Half a year later and they're only now deciding to have some staff members check whether or not the machines are working. For one, they should have been able to determine that the technology is totally messed up before launching, considering the stations were built about a year prior to the opening. Secondly, they surely knew things were not working correctly the moment the free period was over and thousands of people started to attempt to pay for things and use the products they did manage to purchase. Would it have been that hard to have the fare inspectors - as they sit at the station waiting for the next train - to get into the habit of taping some sort of testing card to determine whether a station was having issues?

They managed to built and get trains running just fine, but having something function as reliable as an Interac machine at Zehrs is somehow a challenge.

I had noticed an error code and it did look like they're running some sort of Windows OS. I could be wrong. But one should never, ever run Windows in anything critical, it's too unreliable. Normally you'd use Unix or, Linux (Unix like) system. These systems are less prone to errors and tend to be more hardy.

It's actually Windows IoT (Formerly Windows Embedded) which is different beast than Windows 10. It is designed for lightweight applications such as POS terminals, ATMs, and Card Readers where the full version of Windows is not needed. It does not have a lot of stuff that home or enterprise Windows versions have because they are not needed or useful for these types of applications. There are lots of machines out there running it that you may not even realize are running it.

As for that message that pops up on the pedestals, even though it is showing, you can still tap your card and it still works (I've done it many times). For the misread ones, usually I just tap it a second time and it works. (I have the same problem sometimes on the tap to pay interac machines in stores).

[KevinL]

From the CBC:

The region will have workers checking every ION fare machine to make sure it's working properly after many reports from riders of problems with the system.

[...]

If the fare machines aren't working, Zinck suggested riders could have also have an alternate method of payment, such as cash if the debit or credit card machine doesn't work. He also noted people can load fare cards online, although there is a bit of lag time between doing that and the money showing up on the card.

Half a year later and they're only now deciding to have some staff members check whether or not the machines are working. For one, they should have been able to determine that the technology is totally messed up before launching, considering the stations were built about a year prior to the opening. Secondly, they surely knew things were not working correctly the moment the free period was over and thousands of people started to attempt to pay for things and use the products they did manage to purchase. Would it have been that hard to have the fare inspectors - as they sit at the station waiting for the next train - to get into the habit of taping some sort of testing card to determine whether a station was having issues?

They managed to built and get trains running just fine, but having something function as reliable as an Interac machine at Zehrs is somehow a challenge.

In this case, 'they' is not the Region or GrandLinq but the contractor for the validation and ticket machines. The staff finally being sent to check on usability are from the Region; it seems the vendor was left to self-maintain the units but that's been determined to no longer be viable.

As for the OS, I believe that's a (usually) stable field version of Windows called Embedded Compact (formerly CE).