Translink...a terrific theory...but is it in use?

if you have ever set foot on any form of public transportation in San Francisco you've seen it. If you have not set foot on public transportation SHAME ON YOU. Its that big akward looking box thing on a poll with the sigh TRANSLINK. And for the past umpteenth months its been accompanied by the sign NOT in SERVICE. hmmph. Great idea huh?

I've come to expect a lot of things from my time in san francisco and my travels in India. ANd one of these things is dont wait for shit to happen. THe bus wont come. That person will NOT change his mind. If something can go wrong it will. Murphy's law. ANd trans link will be "under cosntruction" forever.

Sweet.

But guess who got proven wrong? Just the otherday i was on muni and i saw a guy take out his translink card and swipe it in front of the machine...and you'll never guess what happened...the machine BEEPED! there was a miracle! Translink worked!

He's not the only fool to take advantage of the system. My friend recently purchased a translink card and boasted it in front of me. I opened up my wallet and thousands of pieces of paper fell out, caltrain tickets, parking tickets, muni transfers, ferry passes...suddenly eric's translink card no longer looked like a joke...I did!

the translink card works like my skidmore debit card. You go online to a website, go to your account and add money via a credit card...and viola! you have transportation money. Now when you jump onto muni instead of fumbling around in your purse for 1.50 (which who the F*** ever has) you can just swipe your card on the translink meter and you are DONE.

THe only problem is translink only work on muni and the ferry. And i cant quite justify paying for the card UNTIL my friend the Big C gets in on the deal. The Big C being my biggest Frenemy BIG BAD CALTRAIN.

So caltrain WAKE UP! smell the coffee and get on board with translink! you know how much easier it would be to use translink instead of having to buy a ticket every time. ANd worst of all...Caltrain ALREADY has translink machines at every station! oh the shock! the horror! caltrain is WASTEFUL...wasting money on technology it DOES NOT EVEN PLAN TO USE!

i mean how conveinant would that be...one card for everything...caltrain, parking, muni, ferry...hey maybe starbucks will start taking it! jsut add money swipe...and viola..no ticket citations...fast, easy and conveinant public transportation...the way it is meant to be.

love

randee (the girl who sold her soul to the crappiest train in the world)