Welcome to our first installment of Deal of the Week, where we will be showcasing exclusive discounts to events and eateries that have partnered with our Destination Discounts program. Go Metro to any of the participating locations and save on admission, receive discounts on meals and more!
Let’s face it. Most of us don’t carry out our New Year’s resolutions to eat healthy. But this time of year is the perfect opportunity to reevaluate eating habits and kick-start health goals.
Spring clean your diet by stocking up on fresh, in-season produce from local farmers at the Blue Line Farmers’ Market in Compton next to the MLK Transit Center.
Every Thursday from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m., you’ll be able to purchase organic fruits and vegetables and learn how some of your favorite foods are grown. You can even bring family and friends along to enjoy live entertainment, children’s activities and purchase homemade goods from small business owners featured in the market.
Go Metro and save 10% on your purchase at any vendor by showing your valid TAP card. To get there, take the Metro Blue Line to Compton Station or Metro Bus 202 to Willowbrook/Compton. For more routes and connections, use the Metro Trip Planner.
Categories: Go Metro
I have low expectations for TAP when they can’t even get a decent website running. And when it does, their servers are soooooooooooo slow!
It’s easier to open an account with a credit union, do online bill pay and do ACH transfers online than maintaining your own TAP card at taptogo.net.
One of my TAP cards is set to expire in October. I’ll likely am going to still have funds in it, but the only way to transfer the money to another TAP card is for me to call customer service which requires long wait times and is only available at set hours on a weekday.
Why can’t I do this online? Transferring funds from one card to another is such a simple task that can be done by yourself, much like transferring funds between checking and savings accounts or between outside financial institutions! If credit unions and banks have the technology and capability to do this, why can’t you? You guys have a $5 billion dollar budget and you can’t do something that small credit unions can do?
TAP still has a long way to go to get to that point. It still has yet to be fully implemented onto Metrolink and the solution they thought up is this TAP enabled paper ticket system which awkward in itself because it only works for Metrolink passengers connecting to Metro, not Metro users connecting to Metrolink.
Furthermore, we still have yet to solve the problem of standardizing the entire LA area under a regional fare system. One entity uses distance based fares (Metrolink), others uses flat rate fares (Metro) and at different rates as municipal agencies (Santa Monica Big Blue Bus, Culver City Bus, etc.) and transfer policies. TAP was poorly conceived that it cannot do the basic things like automated transfers, cap system, auto reload when balance gets low, a decent webpage, stuff that it should be able to do in this day and age. Features that the same Cubic technology is possible in cities like San Francisco, London, and Singapore.
But that’s what you get when different government agencies all want to do their things their own way. Lack of organization, lack of fore-sight, lack of co-operation, needlessly confusing bureaucracy, all at taxpayers’ expense.
Showing your TAP card to get discounts is one thing, when are we going to get to the point of actually PAYING for stuff with the TAP cards?
The concept isn’t new or space-age. It’s been in practice abroad for decades! There’s more opportunity for Metro to utilize TAP than just using it for transit fares you know? You guys could be making merchant transaction fees by having retailers and merchants accept TAP cards as payments, giving you guys an additional revenue stream to capitalize on.
Look at what other countries do with their contactless cards:
http://www.jreast.co.jp/e/pass/suica.html#category04
http://english.visitkorea.or.kr/enu/TR/TR_EN_5_4.jsp
http://www.octopus.com.hk/octopus-for-businesses/en/index.html
http://www.easycard.com.tw/english/use/index.aspx
You can use it not just to pay for transit fares, but also at vending machines, onboard sales, parking, coin lockers, convenience stores, bakeries, department stores, taxi cabs, bike rentals, etc. etc. the opportunities are endless!
Look at the expansive list of Taipei’s Easy Card partners! They can use it at Domino’s Pizza, Starbucks, Cold Stone Creamery, buy sushi, donuts, and even buy movie tickets with their card!
http://i.imgur.com/AoDM4S8.jpg
Imagine what TAP can do here! Use it to pay for Hollywood tour buses! TAP card for Dodgers, Angels, Lakers, Clippers, Galaxy and Kings tickets! Use TAP for Uber and Lyft! Use it In ‘N Out, King Tacos, Chipotle, Yum-Yum Donuts, etc.! Use it at Macy’s, Daiso, Famima!
People are right when they say Metro has their priorities backwards. For all the stuff they should be focusing on that will help create Metro make more revenue like expanding TAP opportunities and converting parking lots to paid parking, they keep those as a low priority. For all the stuff that can be done later like art-projects and bike lanes that do not make revenue, they put those at the fore-front.
You make money first, then splurge later. People don’t buy Ferraris and expensive artwork without making money first