snapped? (wha)

It’s been a couple weeks since we last checked in on Snapper.

The Snapper rollout has continued apace, and some of us haven’t used our old ten-trips for two whole weeks! (Well, we were excited about this, anyway.)

More and more people are boarding buses armed with the cards; and more and more buses (and their drivers) are ready to take them.

And in the meantime we’ve learnt many things. (Read on for more.)

From the Capital Times, we have confirmation from Charles Monheim (the “departing General Manager” of Snapper) that the chip used in Snapper is unequivocally NOT the same as the compromised MiFare. Good news, but you didn’t see it on the Snapper website.
From the Go Wellington Bus website, we found a video of the correct way (confirmed by our earlier experience) to tag on and tag off (hint: hold the card steady, don’t wave it). We have to wonder why this video also isn’t on the Snapper site.
From a Snappette on yesterday’s bus commute we find that drivers are now instructed to let Snapper-presenting commuters ride for free on non-Snapper enabled buses – welcome news for the many people who have been caught out by this. Again, why isn’t this news on the Snapper website?
From Zoomin, a useful map of where to go to buy your Snapper card. Dare we say this should be on the Snapper website?
From Poneke’s website, an email from the head of Go Wellington Bus explaining some of the peculiar commuter user experiences reported by various people. It really does sound like the GPS and tagging on problems reported on various blogs and news sites will be sorted out as everyone, drivers, commuters, and retailers, get used to the new system. Plus, as reported by some, it is possible for two people to ride on the one Snapper! (At least this will be on the Snapper website in time; it’s simply not a feature they want to publicise right now.)

We’ve also been watching what Wellington people have to say about Snapper. And you’ve been saying a lot. For a flavour, here’s a selection:

ethel_aardvark points out that you may be better off buying some 10-trip tickets now, given the upcoming ticket price rise;
farahmexx has some Snapper related chuckles at the expense of her flatmate, who thought fish was on the menu for dinner;
redshoegirl wishes the rollout could have been smoother;
Stephen reports that, yes, you can register anonymously, which should mitigate some of the privacy concerns expressed in many places;
Queen Bee down at The Hive wonders why Auckland hasn’t got Snapper already; and later she suggests that usage has now reached 10%;
Jonathan has read the Snapper T&Cs, and doesn’t like what he reads – Snapper retains retains the ownership of the card, but take no responsibility for its failure;
Maudlinrose, like many, is wound up by Snapper’s fees;
And Poneke remains the best source of news about Snapper (aside from the Wellingtonista, er, right?)

So it may be a little while before all is sunshine and kittehs in Snapper land. For example, we’d like to get resolution on some of the charging issues we’ve seen, such as the strange disparity in charging between inward and outward two-zone journeys. But we think things seem definitely to be headed in the right direction.

What do YOU think?