Opinion: The Metro - Nice Trains, Lousy Ticket Machines

The Metro is coming to Monrovia soon, so to get a preview my wife and I decided to take the Metro into LA and have lunch at Phillipe's, so we got on at the Sierra Madre Villa station. I love trains and this one was clean and nice and the ride was pleasant, but the automatic ticket machine was - in my grandmother's colorful vocabulary - a disgrace to the hooty owls. It is the most baffling, confusing, frustrating ticket machine I have EVER had the misfortune to encounter. Even multi-language ticket machines in Europe are a breeze to use in comparison. And while we stood there confounded three other people expressed their confusion as well. And the five of us were the only ones there! 100% confusion.

So, can you Metro people please find some decent ticket machines before you install them in the Monrovia station?

- Brad Haugaard

3 comments:

  1. We went to Olvera Street yesterday via the Metro. I didn't know about the new TAP cards and was a little confused too. But, now that I've done it once, I think it will be easier next time. :-)

    ReplyDelete
  2. I so agree. I consider myself a tech savvy person but every time I use the ticket machine I have to slow down and consider the options to make sure I am getting what I want. The terminology between the different types of fares is confusing especially for first timers. I imagine as it comes out to Monrovia and we ride more often it will become second nature.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I agree too.
    I have taken the Gold Line once a month since it opened to China Town, Union Station, J Town etc. Have not driven to LA since. But those ticket machines are still a little confusing even to this veteran! Use it a couple of times and it gets better but you still have to stare at it and figure out what you want. I see others trying to struggle through it too.
    But it's sure nice to travel without the worry of traffic and parking.

    ReplyDelete

Experimental. try to get to work on mobile devices