Charlie

[Smuttynose]

There's an interesting story behind the CharlieCard that I got a kick out of...

In the 1940s, the MTA fare-schedule was very complicated - at one time, the booklet that explained it was 9 pages long. Fare increases were implemented by means of an "exit fare". Rather than modify all the turnstiles for the new rate, they just collected the extra money when leaving the train.

In 1948 Walter A. O'Brien was a Progressive Party candidate for mayor of Boston, running on a platform to fight fare increases and make the fare schedule more uniform.

Jacqueline Steiner and Bess Lomax Hawes wrote the song "Charlie on the M.T.A.," as one of seven written for O'Brien's campaign, each one emphasizing a key point of his platform. One recording was made of each song, and they were broadcast from a sound truck that drove around the streets of Boston. This earned O'Brien a $10 fine for disturbing the peace.

The song tells the story of a man named Charlie who gets trapped on the Boston subway because he can not afford a fare increase exit fare.

A singer named Will Holt recorded the story of Charlie as a pop song for Coral Records after hearing an impromptu performance of the tune in a San Francisco coffee house by a former member of the group. The record company was astounded by a deluge of protests from Boston because the song made a hero out of a local "radical". During the McCarthy era of the 1950s, the Progressive Party became synonymous with the Communist Party, and, since O'Brien was a Progressive, he was labeled a Communist. Holt's record was hastily withdrawn.

In 1959, The Kingston Trio released a recording of the song. The name Walter A. was changed to George to avoid the problems that Holt experienced. Thus ended Walter O'Brien's claim to fame.

Walter A. O'Brien lost the election, by the way. He moved back to his home state of Maine in 1957 and became a school librarian and a bookstore owner. He died in July of 1998.

Story Credit goes to: http://www.mit.edu/~jdreed/t/charlie.html#Route

LYRICS

Let me tell you the story
Of a man named Charlie
On a tragic and fateful day
He put ten cents in his pocket,
Kissed his wife and family
Went to ride on the MTA

Charlie handed in his dime
At the Kendall Square Station
And he changed for Jamaica Plain
When he got there the conductor told him,
"One more nickel."
Charlie could not get off that train.

Chorus:
Did he ever return,
No he never returned
And his fate is still unlearn'd
He may ride forever
'neath the streets of Boston
He's the man who never returned.

Now all night long
Charlie rides through the tunnels

Saying, "What will become of me?
Crying
How can I afford to see
My sister in Chelsea
Or my cousin in Roxbury?"

Charlie's wife goes down
To the Scollay Square station
Every day at quarter past two
And through the open window
She hands Charlie a sandwich
As the train comes rumblin' through.

As his train rolled on
underneath Greater Boston
Charlie looked around and sighed:
"Well, I'm sore and disgusted
And I'm absolutely busted;
I guess this is my last long ride."
{this entire verse was replaced by a banjo solo}

Now you citizens of Boston,
Don't you think it's a scandal
That the people have to pay and pay
Vote for Walter A. O'Brien
Fight the fare increase!
And fight the fare increase
Vote for George O'Brien!
Get poor Charlie off the MTA.

Chorus:
Or else he'll never return,
No he'll never return
And his fate will be unlearned
He may ride forever
'neath the streets of Boston
He's the man (Who's the man)
He's the man who never returned.
He's the man (Oh, the man)
He's the man who never returned.
He's the man who never returned."

[BostonMike]

You've got to wonder why his wife didn't just hand him a nickel instead of a sandwich.

[jass]

Originally Posted by BostonMike

You've got to wonder why his wife didn't just hand him a nickel instead of a sandwich.

I also wonder how the wife got there. Did she walk from Kendal to government center?

[statler]

Originally Posted by Boston Now

Riding Charlie into the future
T card could be used to buy almost anything
Galen Moore, gmoore@bostonnow.com

Your CharlieCard soon could mean more to you than just a ride to work.

It could let you buy your donuts and coffee in the morning - and a lot more - if T officials make good on their stated intent to follow Asian and European "smart-card" innovators.

The T is keeping mum about plans to expand its smart-card fare system, but officials' recent public comments point to Hong Kong. That's where transit riders use a tap-and-go fare card called "Octopus" to buy things, feed parking meters and transfer between multiple transportation systems.

"The CharlieCard is going to be our base card for hopefully many more things than the MBTA," Joe Kelley, the T's deputy general manager for modernization, said this summer.

Before long, he said, riders may be able to use their CharlieCard on neighboring city transit systems, private bus lines or in Dunkin' Donuts, Kelley said.

T spokesman Joe Pesaturo declined to allow follow-up interviews with Kelley or other officials involved in the project.

But during the MBTA Board meeting last month, Jack McLaughlin, director of automated fare collection modernization, hinted the T is exploring relationships with Mastercard and Nokia.

Nokia spokesman Keith Nowak said he was not aware of any discussions with the T, but the company is now testing a tap-and-go phone, the 6131 NFC, that would work just like a CharlieCard. "You actually use the phone as you enter to go in," spokesman Keith Nowak said.

They've run trials on the New York subway, at concerts and with "smart" movie posters that can beam a movie clip directly to your phone.

While New York has tried the technology, Boston's Charlie appears more likely to become the U.S. poster child for transit card innovation, said Randy Vanderhoof, executive director of the Smart Card Alliance, a trade organization that plans to come to Boston next month for its annual conference.

With the infrastructure already in place, a relationship with cellular phone or smart-card companies would greatly benefit the T, allowing them to devote more staff to improving service, he said. "They're in the business of moving people from point A to point B. They really don't have an interest in being a card issuer."

When the T does begin to make those connections, it will find a handful of companies with new smart-card products in the wings. Until someone takes the first leap, the technology is sitting idle, Nokia's Nowak said. "It's a little bit of the chicken and the egg."
A fast-growing animal

* Hong Kong's "Octopus" smart-card system added non-transit spending in 2002. Now, 95 percent of adult residents 65 and under carry the Octopus card.
* 3,000 stores and 10,000 parking meters accept it
* Daily non-transit spending averages $2 per rider, with 9 million transactions per day.
Source: Card Technology Magazine

Published on Thu, Sep 6, 2007

Link

[kennedy]

This could work, but it would have to be done very carefully. Or else it would just be a credit card/subway ticket. Which doesn't seem to be what they want.

A card that worked like your normal CharlieCard, and got you on all MBTA and the Boston transit variations, it would work. Combine it with the FastLane, perhaps?

As for Dunkin Donuts, make a deal the the T to put a Dunks in every station, or most major stations, or something like that. Then your card could be used in all Dunkin Donuts, but it would kinda be based on them being in the stations.

It would work like a charge, though. Instead of putting money on it, you would be billed at the end of the month.

Uses for the new CharlieCard:

-Subway ticket
-Bus ticket
-Commuter Rail ticket
-Ferry ticket
-FastPass
-Dunkin Donuts card


...and more, but Burn Notice is on, so I'll think about it later.

[whighlander]

I proposed the following based on a wireless cash-equivalent card to the T -- a few years ago when my then company was developing wireless retail kiosk technology:

1) wireless card -- {they did that with the Charlie}
2) reloadable from the kiosks with either cash, credit or direct bank account debit {they did part of that with Charlie}
3) usable on Commuter Rail, Amtrak
4) usable at all T, Massport, Convention Center Authority for garage and lot parking {Alewife, Rt-128, Anderson, Logan, Boston Common, etc.}
5) usable for all automated meter parking
6) usable for automated toll collection
7) usable in the major stations for Dunkin Doughnuts, Au Bon Pain {South Station}, Newspapers, Dry Cleaning , Florist
8) expandable out into the neighborhood -- groceries, gas stations, etc.

This would increase user flexibility and reduce costs {no need for toll takers, garage fee collectors and reduced theft associated with cash}

I applaud anything the T will do in this area

I would suggest a couple of enhancements today:
1) reloadable at Bank ATM?s
2) reloadable using a USB wireless adapter from your home PC
3) ultimately could be substituted for by special mobile / pocket devices with Bluetooth or other short range wireless technology

Westy

[justin]

Why not a chip implant containing your T pass and your genome?