Introduction ----------- My name is Paolo Resmini and I ride the Caltrain 3 times a week from Palo Alto to San Francisco. I\'ve been doing this for the past 4 months since I moved down from San Francisco. Before that I was taking the Muni Bus System for 5 years within San Francisco, and before that, I was taking Amtrak Capitol Corridor and BART from Sacramento into San Francisco for 3 years. Needless to say, I\'m an avid supporter of our public transportation systems. below is a petition to propose a change to the current 10-ride policy. by signing this petition you agree that there are issues with the current 10-ride policy, and desire a change for the better 10-ride policy overview -------------------- I understand the need for a Proof-Of-Purchase system. It allows less load on the conductors checking tickets and allows them to do other necessary tasks. I agree with the system, and I think that it has been quite successful. I do, however, have an issue with the policy that SOME conductors seem to enforce and others do not. That policy is "if the 10-ride ticket punch at your station did not work, you must seek out a conductor and have them mark the ticket BEFORE you sit down, otherwise, if you tell the conductor AFTER you have sat down and he comes by checking tickets, you are in violation and could get a citation." issues with the current policy: ------------------------- 1) the ticket punch systems malfunction about 10-30% of the times we try to use it. 2) on the bullet trains, it is very hard to find a seat, let alone find two seats next to each other. people get to the train early simply to line up and get a seat. if you have to go find a conductor to get your 10-ride punched, you will have a hard time finding a seat, potentially having to stand the entire ride 3) when a ticket punch DOES malfunction, there is congested lines in the train cars (with people trying to get their 10-ride validated) causing a lot of people to have to wait to get by (even though they may have a single ride, or monthly pass). 4) the policy is not enforced by all conductors so you never know who is going to be on that train. Some conductors are ok with you sitting down, as long as when you SEE a conductor come by, you notify them that you need your pass validated. 5) while most conductors are reasonable and polite in dealing with a passenger who takes a seat rather than seeking out the conductor, the policy encourages conductors to threaten some of the most loyal customers with a citation. Possible Solutions ---------------- ANNOUNCE VALIDATION REQUEST 1) allow all passengers to sit down when they get on the train 2) when a conductor comes in for a ticket check, he/she can announce that any 10-ride tickets that were not validated properly to please notify them immediately. Conductor can then mark the ticket as validated. pros: ------ 1) passengers can get seated as soon as possible, providing the most safety, and reducing the amount of aisle traffic to allow the conductors and exiting passengers the freedom to move easily 2) cal train will still enforce the proof-of-payment by requiring passengers to voluntarily notify a conductor when a validator did not work correctly. cons: ------- 1) conductors are required to get to each car and request 10-ride passengers for validation check. 2) if conductor doesn\'t make it to the train car, passenger could potentially avoid validation, and get a free ride. OR SELF VALIDATION 1) allow all passengers to site down when they get on the train. 2) conductor can announce that if your 10-ride was not validated, please self-validate an inner slot with STATION/DATE/TIME. This way, when the conductor comes around, you\'ll already have a validated ticket. if you don\'t self validate, you will get a citation when the conductor comes around. The advantages of these proposed policies are: pros: ------ 1) passengers can get seated as soon as possible, providing the most safety, and reducing the amount of aisle traffic to allow the conductors and exiting passengers the freedom to move easily 2) no extra workload on the conductors as the tickets will be validated before the conductor shows up. cons: ------- 1) requires passengers to learn something new, and have or find a pen to use to self-validate the ticket. 2) passengers could potentially wait until they see a conductor to self-validate the ticket, and if they never see a conductor, never self-validate