Good-bye T Token...Hello CharlieCard

[liz_marcs]

Because I can't resist...

The last brass token for the MBTA (Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority) sold at 10:23 a.m. today at Government Center station to an East Boston woman... — Read more about the last MBTA token

Good-bye little brass T token, hello Charlie!





It's the end of an era. Truly.

You know what that means, right?

Music download!

M.T.A. — Kingston Trio
But did he ever return?
No he never returned,
And his fate is still unlearned. (Poor ol' Charlie.)
He may ride forever 'neath the streets of Boston,
He's the man who never returned... — Read more about the history of the song 'M.T.A.' and Charlie, the man who never returned.

Because everyone knows that when you're naming the SmartCard that will allow people to use your public transportation system, you must name it after the guy who was not only trapped on the T, but got so lost that he never, ever returned.

Gawd, I love my city...

Comments

[tnrkitect.livejournal.com]

You uploaded a pic of the CharlieCard, not the song ;-)

[liz-marcs.livejournal.com]

I absolutely uploaded the song.

I'll bold it so it's easier to see.

[tnrkitect.livejournal.com]

the SaveFile link gives me the pic.

M.T.A. — Kingston Trio
Kingston Trio Type: jpg, 0.01MB)

[liz-marcs.livejournal.com]

Ahhhh!

I see. I will now fix!

FIXED LINK!

[liz-marcs.livejournal.com]

The MP3 is up there now. :-)

[wesleysgirl.livejournal.com]

I love that they're calling it the Charlie card, it's awesome.

[liz-marcs.livejournal.com]

It makes me strangely giddy that's it's called the CharlieCard. It really does.

[anonymous_sibyl]

This kind of makes me glad I have a token still stuck in my wallet.

[liz-marcs.livejournal.com]

I have a couple of tokens myself (I think).

I'll be buying my first CC on Friday.

Oh, and I'm fixing the link to the song right now.

[darkluna.livejournal.com]

I came home from my last trip to Boston with one leftover T token. Aww.

Thanks for posting the song- I've been looking for it!

[liz-marcs.livejournal.com]

You're welcome. :-)

[leenah.livejournal.com]

i don't think you can even USE the tokens anymore. so they're just souveniers. i have at least one.

and the MBTA *tried* to name the smart card system something other than CharlieCard. but the patrons insisted on naming it for Charlie(if i remember the globe articles correctly).

seems appropriate to me.

i don't get a smart card until january, when my employer starts handing them out.

[liz-marcs.livejournal.com]

Nope. Usage is gone, too.

And yeah, I think you're right. It was more of a local push to name it Charlie than a happy embrace by TPTB.

[leenah.livejournal.com]

'cause *we* all know crap when we see it. :)




well, okay, not CRAP, but a hassle. and it's been a hassle. every morning i watch little old ladies scatter their change on the bus 'cause they can't manage to get the coins in the new, more difficult coinslot.

whoever designed it should get an award for bad design.

[ron_newman]

The token is still worth $1.25. You can feed it into a Charlie vending machine and get a ticket, or add value to your smart card.

[kajivar]

I've been reading horror stories about people getting charged 4, 5 times for their Charlie Card due to faulty machines. I FEAR.

[liz-marcs.livejournal.com]

I've used the CharlieCard last month (easier than dealing with tokens), and I honestly didn't run into problems. But I can definitely see the good in keeping track of card usage.

[lizziebelle.livejournal.com]

I think it's fabulous that they call it the Charlie Card. Thanks for the song! A nice blast from the past. :)

[liz-marcs.livejournal.com]

We...are fabulous commuters.

And there are days where we all feel like Charlie when we ride the T.

[halfmoon-mollie.livejournal.com]

I always wondered why Charlie's wife didn't give him that "one more nickel" instead of a sandwich, but I guess the song wouldn't have been quite so much fun then.

thanks for this. Boston is COOL.

[nwhepcat.livejournal.com]

I always had exactly the same question. I think she didn't want him back.

[liz-marcs.livejournal.com]

Heeeeee!

I remember asking that myself, and my dad informed me that Charlie's wife used the nickel so she could by Charlie the sandwich that she passed to him as the T went by.

What does this say about 9-year-old me that I thought this was a reasonable explanation?

[thebigfatman.livejournal.com]

A) *horrified gasp!*
B) I'm glad I still have a T token kicking around in my jewelry box o' treasure!
C) Ever hear the Dropkick Murphys' cover of that song? Good stuff.

[liz-marcs.livejournal.com]

Own the Dropkick Murphy's cover the song, "Skinhead on the MBTA."

Sadly, I don't have it here at work.

[thebigfatman.livejournal.com]

I've listened to the Skinhead... cover enough that it's the one I thought of first when I saw your post.

And now it's warring inside my head with the Christmas tunes I currently have streaming into my cube. What a strange mix.

[inmyriadbits.livejournal.com]

Ha! I've been wondering about the name; I was up in Boston over Thanksgiving. I've never heard that story before (I'm from Texas originally), but I'm quite amused. Y'all are crazy in the best of ways.

[liz-marcs.livejournal.com]

According to the other locals, it appears that the T wanted to call the card something else, but it's the regular T patrons that stubbornly kept voting for the name Charlie until the T threw up its hands and gave in.

[meryddian.livejournal.com]

Because everyone knows that when you're naming the SmartCard that will allow people to use your public transportation system, you must name it after the guy who was not only trapped on the T, but got so lost that he never, ever returned.

I love it. :) I do so miss the 'T'.

In fact, when I first moved out to Chicago from CT, I was so used to calling a subway system "the T" that it took me almost two years before I would automatically call our local subway/train system "the L" (the "El"?). Needless to say, I would get a lot of funny looks when I'd ask people, "Where's the nearest T, I mean L, station?"

Sadly, Chicago was not so clever in naming their cards, which cover the CTA buses and trains as well as Pace buses; here it's just "the ChicagoCard". And the graphic is dull in comparison too!

[thebigfatman.livejournal.com]

Heheh... If you run into anybody wanting a token for nostalgia purposes, there are 50 up for $10 on eBay right now (http://cgi.ebay.com/50-BOSTON-T-SUBWAY-TOKENS_W0QQitemZ230061671783QQihZ013QQcategoryZ3457QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem?hash=item230061671783).

[ron_newman]

What? They are still worth $62.50 !

[thebigfatman.livejournal.com]

Yeah! I don't think they realize that they're still a viable train-taking option....

[fadethecat.livejournal.com]

My parents used to sing modified versions of that song whenever we got lost driving somewhere (which was, I'll admit, quite often, and doubly so whenever we were in Quito). I knew in some vague way that it came from an original piece, but I'd never heard the actual origin song before. But now I know! And knowing is half the battle!

[a2zmom.livejournal.com]

I still have a NYC subway token in my wallet. I have no idea if they're still usable.

[ron_newman]

No. The NYC subway stopped accepting them in April 2003, the buses stopped taking them at the end of 2003, and I think even the Roosevelt Island tramway took its last token some time in 2004.

[r-becca.livejournal.com]

*downloads*

*wipes tears of laughter*

[smhwpf.livejournal.com]

Heee! That's fantastic. And thanks for the download, it's a great song.

Way better name than London's Oystercard. I don't think there's ever been an oyster trapped on the London Underground. Or if there has, no-one's written a song about it.

[noblwish.livejournal.com]

I SO love that song! Now, I'm gonna have to plan a trip to MA, just to get a CharlieCard.

[sumthingneo.livejournal.com]

May I be the first to say..."Bring back the Token"