This is apparently not a problem with Ticket Vending Machines only. Did you ever try to read the face of your cell phone in bright sunlight??
John, I thought that I was the only one who had trouble seeing the screen on the TVM. The machine at Essex Street on the Pascack Valley line faces due east; the screen is impossible to read in the morning. I've had a stranger voluntarily stand behind me using his newspaper as a sun screen so that I could buy my ticket.
I wrote a letter to NJ Transit Rail Operations two years ago suggesting that they turn the TVM a quarter turn to face north, which would solve the sun problem. Never got any response; the machine still faces east.
Anyone who rides New Jersey Transit knows that very few suburban stations have ticket clerks any more. The only one I know of is Princeton Junction. But all of the stations I have been to have Ticket Vending Machines with NJT calls TVM's. They are robust machines. I've never known one to break down although occasionally they do run out of change or tickets. But not usually. But there is one problem.
On a bright day, even when the sun does not shine directly on the screen, the screen is illegible. It can be absolutely impossible to see the print on it and it is often extremely difficult. An obvious solution would be to put up light barriers around the sided and over the top the the machines but NJT does not bother to do that. However, if you are unable to use a machine because it is illegible they are very quick to hit you with a $5 surcharge.
I have to believe many people have been victimized by NJT TVM''s but I have never heard of anyone complain about it.
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