What happened to Trenton's SEPTA ticket machines

[gardendance]

Didn't SEPTA have ticket vending machines on both platforms at Trenton NJ? Any idea why they were removed?

[al-in-chgo]

Didn't SEPTA have ticket vending machines on both platforms at Trenton NJ? Any idea why they were removed?

Since the SEPTA line (is it R5?) that serves Trenton is a "turn-around" and the process of getting passengers on board is more leisurely than an intermediate stop, (just guessing but) could it be it was more trouble maintaining the ticket-vending machines than getting a trainman to sell tix to the relatively few people not on passes? 

[gardendance]

Maybe you'll accuse me of withholding information when I made the first post, but the signs I saw on the platform were telling folks to go upstairs and get tickets from the NJ Transit agent. Trenton's an interchange point between NJ Transit, or even Amtrak, and Septa, so I'm betting there are quite a few folks not on passes.

Some of the connection times are rather short, so there must be some passengers who either miss their connection because they're trying to run upstairs to get tickets, or who have to bite the bullet and pay the penalty for buying ticket on board instead of using the agent.

I haven't really paid too much attention to NJ Transit vending machines, so I'm not sure if they sell thru tickets for Septa. I think I remember in the other direction that there are a couple of NJ Transit machines at 30th St Philly, which would sell a thru ticket, but I don't know of any others at Septa stations, or if Septa agents can sell thru tickets.

[al-in-chgo]

Maybe you'll accuse me of withholding information when I made the first post, but the signs I saw on the platform were telling folks to go upstairs and get tickets from the NJ Transit agent. Trenton's an interchange point between NJ Transit, or even Amtrak, and Septa, so I'm betting there are quite a few folks not on passes.

Some of the connection times are rather short, so there must be some passengers who either miss their connection because they're trying to run upstairs to get tickets, or who have to bite the bullet and pay the penalty for buying ticket on board instead of using the agent.

I haven't really paid too much attention to NJ Transit vending machines, so I'm not sure if they sell thru tickets for Septa. I think I remember in the other direction that there are a couple of NJ Transit machines at 30th St Philly, which would sell a thru ticket, but I don't know of any others at Septa stations, or if Septa agents can sell thru tickets.

I don't want to be obstreperous, but I was under the impression that the NJT ticket machines at 30th St/Phila. were there to sell tickets for the Atlantic City route.  Whether they sell tickets for the whole system, I don't know.  It wouldn't surprise me if they did -- generally these ticket machines just generate tickets based on zones, don't they?   NJT has no real live ticket agent in Philly. 

OTOH we had no trouble in Trenton transferring from the diesel light-rail to a Penn Station-bound NJT train, and there was time in the middle for a quick "pit stop" and to buy tickets from a human being in the station.  Maybe we were just lucky,  but it worked very smoothly.  This isn't to say that having to buy tickets from a person at Trenton might mess up an NJT/SEPTA connection there, but I would hope people whose schedules are broken up would complain, and possibly even post their story here.  

[gardendance]

Last time I checked, and it has been a while,

Philly 30th St main concourse had 2 NJT ticket machines, and as I remember seemed to be for Atlantic City, or at least the default was Philly-Atlantic City. Maybe there was an "other destinations" button which got you access to tickets for the rest of the system.

The upper concourse, next to the SEPTA ticket office, also had 2 NJT machines, this time for joint SEPTA-NJT Philly-New York tickets, and as was with the main concourse machines may have had an "other destinations" button.

[gardendance]

I may have found my answer, from Railway Age http://railwayage.com/breaking_news.shtml

NJ Transit also announced an expanded joint-ticketing agreement with neighboring Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA), giving NJ Transit customers the ability to buy tickets (including round-trip tickets) to more than 125 "new" destinations in the SEPTA system.

NJ Transit has sold SEPTA tickets in the past, but only to three major Center-City Philadelphia destinations. SEPTA will continue selling NJ Transit tickets from those three locations--Suburban Station, Market Street East Station, and 30th Street Station--but Sarles said NJ Transit and SEPTA will explore expanding joint-ticketing options in the Keystone State. NJT to add 50 cars to growing multilevel fleetNew Jersey Transit Wednesday approved the purchase of 50 additional multilevel railcars to help meet current and anticipated ridership demand. The option increases NJT's overall multilevel order to 329; 170 multilevels already have delivered by Bombardier Transportation.

I don't know from that article when NJ Transit started selling SEPTA tickets, and it doesn't say if one could get those tickets from the vending machines, or from the Trenton vending machines at trackside, so I still don't know what the deal is with the sign I thought I saw that I thought told passengers to go upstairs for SEPTA tickets.