Special
to This Crazy Train
By
Bea N. Counter
Classes
are back in session at TCT Academy. I teach
accounting, and I like to share with my students real life financial
situations, like the following two brought to light by Ben Spurr of the Toronto
Star:
In
this article, I won’t dwell on what Mr. Spurr documented. Rather, I’ll look at how it is possible for PRESTO
technology (and some mismanagement) to shortchange GO Transit Bus Ops revenue.
TCT
highlighted previously the fragility of PRESTO
cards. What happens when
a GO Transit bus driver’s card becomes inoperable (or is lost)? Quite simply, the bus point of sale device
cannot be activated. No one can tap on;
no one can load funds to their card; no tickets can be issued — everyone rides
for free with that driver. It’s a case
of lost fare revenue until the driver has a new card. In one case, it took the driver’s
supervisor(s) one and a half weeks to issue a replacement card.
Consider
a different scenario. The PRESTO device
on a GO Transit bus synchronizes with the system via WiFi only when the bus is
at a garage. What happens when the WiFi
doesn’t work? A passenger’s card cannot
be updated with online fund loads executed after the WiFi failed. The bus trip(s) made by a passenger won’t
appear in their transaction history. And
what happens when the WiFi outage is for an extended period of time, say ten
days? Well, the on board PRESTO device
disables itself, and we’re in a period of revenue loss, because everyone rides
for free, again. If you think this is a
purely academic hypothetical scenario, it isn’t. Recently, four buses assigned to Route 12
were in service for over three days in this state of revenue loss.
You
are no doubt wondering how GO Transit management could knowingly let the
garage’s WiFi sit in a state of disrepair for so long. And why couldn’t the supervisor(s) change-off
the affected buses with ones from Hamilton, or Streetsville, or Steeprock
garages? GO Transit management
can authorize chauffeuring one passenger from Union Station to Niagara Falls, but they
won’t follow operational process and swap equipment at Burlington GO or P+R —
why? Why did the escalation procedure(s)
fail?
In the scenarios cited, will GO Transit’s finance department execute an
inquisition to identify the individual(s) responsible for lost revenue and garnishee
their wages? I SURE HOPE NOT. However, it would behoove Phil Verster,
President and CEO at Metrolinx, to have “career discussions” with the GO
Transit managers who allow these debacles to play out. The cost of continued non-compliance
outweighs the cost of compliance.
No
lesson at TCT Academy is complete without some homework to do. Seeing as the topic at hand is lost revenue,
your assignment is as follows:
The
last Niagara Falls
seasonal trains of the year will operate on Thanksgiving
weekend. Discuss how you would use your
PRESTO card legitimately to
travel to The Falls for said weekend and pay less than the discounted PRESTO fare.
Class
dismissed!
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