Ontario Northland/Northern Ontario Transportation

[dowlingm]

The northbound ride is the bigger concern. Commuter passengers (who then leave a seat unoccupied for the rest of the trip) should not be allowed to squeeze out longer distance passengers who offer greater revenue. Some method of holding the commuters until all longer distance passengers are seated is desirable.

A big consideration is whether this option attracts a handful of riders (who are easily accommodated without crowding the train), versus a larger contingent who overwhelm the capacity of the (hopefully popular) long distance ride. I won't speculate what the numbers might amount to. The problem for ON is that once the option is made available, if it's too popular, it will be very hard to withdraw or scale back. I can understand why they might avoid it from the start, even if it leaves revenue on the table.

you’re basically telling the story of UPX here. They left the money on the table initially, and then they dropped their prices in a panic because the papers were printing bad news stories about ridership, but didn’t yield manage the PM peak when you have the evening commuters and passengers heading for 8pm+ red eyes.

Amtrak has a similar situation with their long distance routes south of NY, where they started selling tickets northbound from Washington but keep a tighter grip on inventory heading south lest they be accused of blocking seats towards the South

 

[micheal_can]

you’re basically telling the story of UPX here. They left the money on the table initially, and then they dropped their prices in a panic because the papers were printing bad news stories about ridership, but didn’t yield manage the PM peak when you have the evening commuters and passengers heading for 8pm+ red eyes.

Amtrak has a similar situation with their long distance routes south of NY, where they started selling tickets northbound from Washington but keep a tighter grip on inventory heading south lest they be accused of blocking seats towards the South

The thing is, there is no guarantee the Northlander will be able to stay on time. So, for people who may want to use it as a commuter service may not be able to easily, especially going into Union. Remember, south of Washago it will be forced to deal with freight trains that may for it to the sidings.

 

[lenaitch]

Last I checked TTC was a transit agency, not an intercity transportation service. As for your claim that all intercity transportation services allow you to pay cash onboard, I disagree. The reality is, it is getting harder and harder buy tickets with cash onboard any intercity transportation service. From what I can tell, Ontario Northland does not let you buy tickets from the driver (cash or otherwise), requiring instead that you to buy the ticket in advance, so I am not sure why people think the Northlander will be any different.

The only intercity transportation service that I can find that still does accept cash onboard is Flixbus. There might be others, but most that I saw either don't allow payment onboard or, if they do, don't accept cash onboard.

Apologies. I thought the conversation had shifted to transit agencies.

Even after ONR buses went to online passenger ticket sales, I am told that they held a few seats on the runs that had flag stops and the drivers did accept cash for those, but now that they have onboard Internet I don't know if that is still the case. It is similar with the Polar Bear Express. They also have flag stops for hunters, etc. that includes freight (canoes, ATVs, carcasses, etc.) That used to be done with cash but it also now has Internet so I don't know (there might be some consideration for those FN people who don't have online banking). The Northlander won't have flag stops and I don't know if it will be doing onboard sales. I can try to find out.

 

[roger1818]

Apologies. I thought the conversation had shifted to transit agencies.

Understandable. I was trying to bring things back to the topic at hand, but may not have been clear on that.

Even after ONR buses went to online passenger ticket sales, I am told that they held a few seats on the runs that had flag stops and the drivers did accept cash for those, but now that they have onboard Internet I don't know if that is still the case. It is similar with the Polar Bear Express. They also have flag stops for hunters, etc. that includes freight (canoes, ATVs, carcasses, etc.) That used to be done with cash but it also now has Internet so I don't know (there might be some consideration for those FN people who don't have online banking). The Northlander won't have flag stops and I don't know if it will be doing onboard sales. I can try to find out.

It could very well be that while they may not want to encourage payment on the bus, they also don't want to strand anyone who isn't capable of purchasing a ticket online, for whatever reason. The last thing they want is for someone who tried to board the bus but was turned away to die on the side of the road (be it from heat, cold, animal, car, etc.). It isn't quite as extreme for the Northlander, as there is at least a shelter at every stop, but the same principle may still apply (best to pick the person up to ensure their safety, and then take time to evaluate the situation and determine the best course of action).

 

[ShonTron]

The driver has a mobile phone with a credit/debit card reader for those last minute purchases; it is also used to verify QR codes on printed or mobile tickets. (Ontario Northland, being a government agency, is more forgiving too of things, especially since they operate almost exclusively in Northern Ontario.)

This might be the same way that non-ticketed passengers could be allowed to board for short-distance trips, though I think it’s unreasonable for ONR to accept Presto.

 

[lenaitch]

The driver has a mobile phone with a credit/debit card reader for those last minute purchases; it is also used to verify QR codes on printed or mobile tickets. (Ontario Northland, being a government agency, is more forgiving too of things, especially since they operate almost exclusively in Northern Ontario.)

This might be the same way that non-ticketed passengers could be allowed to board for short-distance trips, though I think it’s unreasonable for ONR to accept Presto.

I thought it was a tablet, but minor point. Prior to Internet being live on all their routes, they had to contend with dead zones. They might have have taken the information 'on faith' and waiting for the device to get into coverage. That would be a policy decision.

I think it would be unreasonable to expect travellers to dive into a system most would only use very occasionally. It's not a commuter system.

 

[Allandale25]