Useful Link -- Boston Area Commuters

[gnomi]

The MBTA has a page where riders can report system delays of 1/2 hour or more and get their fare refunded. I have used this service a number of times and have consistently received tokens back in the mail.

The On Time Service Reply Form

It usually takes a couple of weeks for them to verify the delay in service and issue the refund.

Comments

[dianora2.livejournal.com]

That is very cool. If the NYCMTA did something like that they'd be bankrupt inside of a week.

[gnomi.livejournal.com]

It is cool. And even though I carry a monthly pass, I put in for refunds I'm due, since mabfan can use the tokens if I can't.

And I don't think enough people know about it or think it's worth the bother to file for the refunds to bankrupt the system. It's not all that widely advertised, which is part of what prompted me to post about it (that, and the fact that my bus was 1/2 hour delayed this morning, thus prompting me to file for a refund this morning).

[moneypenny.livejournal.com]

Nice! I'm going to post this to the Boston community and give you due credit for pointing it out.

[gnomi.livejournal.com]

Cool! Thanks!

I figure that not enough people know about this service.

They do verify the delay, so people can't just get money from the T haphazardly. But they're good about refunding fares actually due.

[zsero.livejournal.com]

They can verify that the delay complained of actually happened, but how can they verify that the complainant personally experienced and was inconvenienced by the delay? With this system in place, if one pissed-off commuter blogs about her experience with enough detail, hundreds of people can claim to have been there, and claim the refund.

[gnomi.livejournal.com]

Yes, but you need to give them more detail than most people would post in a blog post -- the time that the bus/train was scheduled to leave its origin point, the stop you got on and off, etc. Most people don't post complaints that say "Damn, but since the 6:45 PM 66 bus was late, and I get on at Cooldige Street, Brookline and off at Johnston Gate in Harvard Square, I'm really ticked off." And since they require you to give them a mailing address to send the refund to, they can -- at least to some extent -- correlate point of entry and legitimate claims against reported delays.

(those are not the real details of a recent problem, so no one should file a complaint based on them)

[seborn.livejournal.com]

Wow. If I knew that the Red Line was down for at least 10 minutes before I started waiting at Central on Monday morning, I'd file. As it is, I only got a 20-minute delay, so no token for me.