sead43
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Post by sead43 on Jan 15, 2008 19:17:15 GMT -5
couldn't decide which board this should go on, but felt people should be aware of this.
when student season ticket packages were handed out in the fall, they included Metro passes for the fall semester games. however, there was no mention anywhere (the materials in the packet, e-mails, etc.) of the procedures for getting passes for the spring games, nor has there been any announcement about it since then. after the UConn game, i realized i was out of Metro passes and e-mailed the AD about it. they replied by saying that i could pick up passes at McDonough, but only on a roughly "game-by-game" basis. so if you go over there this week, they'll only give you two passes for the two games this weekend.
this raises two issue to me:
1. Are they really going to make every student season ticket holder make the inconvenient trek to McDonough every week just to get a Metro card, and what is the reason for this somewhat baffling change?
2. Even if they have to implement that procedure for some reason, would they mind TELLING US ABOUT IT?? How hard would it be to send out one 3-sentence e-mail explaining the procedure? And that's not even asking for a reminder e-mail, as nothing was ever said about it in the first place.
This isn't a huge issue in the big scheme of things, but it is annoying and not really fair that probably only a handful of students will wind up getting the transportation to the games that they were promised and paid for when they bought season tickets.
So, AD: please send out an e-mail letting everyone know about this; and students: head over to McDonough if possible this week because it’d be a shame to let $6.60 go to waste, or even worse, to let some AD employee have 4 free Metro rides on you.
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vcjack
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Post by vcjack on Jan 15, 2008 19:29:09 GMT -5
I think I know what happened but I'm not positive so let me try to explain my thinking.
This is not actually a change in policy for the AD, it was in fact the same way last season as well where metro cards were distributed on a semester to semester basis. Based on this, they made the dangerous assumption that they didn't have to inform people of a continuation of former policy. The problem with that is that few people probably remember that policy, or knew about it last year either. Not to mention the freshmen who would have no way of knowing what that policy was.
Its not too late however for them to mitigate the damage but it seems like as of right now its just an unforseen oversight on reiterating an existing but unclear policy
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Post by hoyaterp25 on Jan 15, 2008 20:20:29 GMT -5
Last year you could go down and pick up spring semester metro cards in january, but they did let you know about it through email. Its strange that you can only get cards on a week-by-week basis. The whole poitn of the metro cards was the university spending money to help students get to gmaes instead of having buses straight to verizon like 2 years ago.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jan 16, 2008 8:46:13 GMT -5
1. Are they really going to make every student season ticket holder make the inconvenient trek to McDonough every week just to get a Metro card, and what is the reason for this somewhat baffling change? Oh my GOD, like, that ten minute walk is SOOOOOO inconvenient!!! Right? RIGHT?!?  If that doesn't scream fat, lazy American, I don't know what does. If McD had offered free Metro passes when I was on The Hilltop, I would have walked to Rosslyn to get them... which we were doing anyway to get down to the games. |
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Post by williambraskyiii on Jan 16, 2008 9:58:51 GMT -5
it is called a cab. get 4 buddies and hail one - even with the sheisty zone system - which I thought was supposed to be jettisoned...every cab i took last weekend was still zoning it - it is like 3 bucks a person. even a poor college kid can afford it.
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TigerHoya
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Post by TigerHoya on Jan 16, 2008 10:16:19 GMT -5
brasky,
Spring is the earliest zones will be phased out and replaced by meters.
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Post by HoyaSinceBirth on Jan 16, 2008 10:54:19 GMT -5
yeah i'm with brasky this is what i usually do. It's not bad price wise and is much faster.
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Jack
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Post by Jack on Jan 16, 2008 11:55:49 GMT -5
My freshman year you had to sign up for the bus to Landover at least 24 hours in advance for every game, then ride an hour in traffic to a dump in PG County to see Victor Page chuck up 25 shots per game and grind out a 7 seed in the NCAA (and that was the best season of my undergrad years). Quit yer whinging.
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sead43
Silver Hoya (over 500 posts)
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Post by sead43 on Jan 16, 2008 12:32:43 GMT -5
1. Are they really going to make every student season ticket holder make the inconvenient trek to McDonough every week just to get a Metro card, and what is the reason for this somewhat baffling change? Oh my GOD, like, that ten minute walk is SOOOOOO inconvenient!!! Right? RIGHT?!? If that doesn't scream fat, lazy American, I don't know what does. If McD had offered free Metro passes when I was on The Hilltop, I would have walked to Rosslyn to get them... which we were doing anyway to get down to the games. the real issue isn't having to go over to McD every week, it's no one being told about it. also, they're not really "free" Metro passes...in theory, we paid for them when we bought season ticket packages (which are advertised as including tickets, transportation, and a WAG shirt). it simply isn't right for the AD not to tell students when and how they can pick up things which they have already paid for, and then almost seem to think (and hope?) that students just won't notice. anyway, i said it wasn't that big a deal in the larger scheme of things. (believe me, we all get how lucky we are to be here at this point in Hoya history.) i really just thought it would be useful to get this info out there, at least so whoever reads the board can get their passes before this big weekend. |
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jan 16, 2008 14:02:49 GMT -5
the real issue isn't having to go over to McD every week, it's no one being told about it. also, they're not really "free" Metro passes...in theory, we paid for them when we bought season ticket packages (which are advertised as including tickets, transportation, and a WAG shirt). it simply isn't right for the AD not to tell students when and how they can pick up things which they have already paid for, and then almost seem to think (and hope?) that students just won't notice. anyway, i said it wasn't that big a deal in the larger scheme of things. (believe me, we all get how lucky we are to be here at this point in Hoya history.) i really just thought it would be useful to get this info out there, at least so whoever reads the board can get their passes before this big weekend. That isn't the issue you addressed in issue #1 in your original post, which is what I - and others - thought sounded beyond ridiculous. Agree the AD stinks at this sort of information-sharing thing, but if walking to McD is that big of an issue... well, you've got bigger problems than a free metro card. |
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Boz
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Post by Boz on Jan 16, 2008 14:16:41 GMT -5
My freshman year you had to sign up for the bus to Landover at least 24 hours in advance for every game, then ride an hour in traffic to a dump in PG County to see Victor Page chuck up 25 shots per game and grind out a 7 seed in the NCAA (and that was the best season of my undergrad years). Quit yer whinging. Jack, you forgot how many times those buses either (A) got lost or (B) broke down, sometimes on the way to the game, which was bad enough, or on the way back, which could have led to an epidemic of student bladder infections. (and even though I'm a few years ahead of you, I'm assuming those problems still happened in your days) |
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TigerHoya
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Post by TigerHoya on Jan 16, 2008 15:01:42 GMT -5
My freshman year you had to sign up for the bus to Landover at least 24 hours in advance for every game, then ride an hour in traffic to a dump in PG County to see Victor Page chuck up 25 shots per game and grind out a 7 seed in the NCAA (and that was the best season of my undergrad years). Quit yer whinging. Jack, you forgot how many times those buses either (A) got lost or (B) broke down, sometimes on the way to the game, which was bad enough, or on the way back, which could have led to an epidemic of student bladder infections. (and even though I'm a few years ahead of you, I'm assuming those problems still happened in your days) Don't forget the early starts on weeknights when the buses would be stuck in the end of rush hour and get you there after the tip. |
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kchoya
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Post by kchoya on Jan 16, 2008 18:19:44 GMT -5
My freshman year you had to sign up for the bus to Landover at least 24 hours in advance for every game, then ride an hour in traffic to a dump in PG County to see Victor Page chuck up 25 shots per game and grind out a 7 seed in the NCAA (and that was the best season of my undergrad years). Quit yer whinging. You had to sign up for the buses? I didn't know that. I was in the band, so that wasn't an issue. What a privilege. I do remember the winding route the buses would usually take - over into Virgina, back across the Potomac on the 14th street bridge, across the 295 bridge into Anacostia, loop around a couple of times, and then take the Anacostia Freeway (?) out to Route 50. Coming home usually involved comign down New York Avenue. And that's when the bus driver knew what they hell they were doing. I remember one weekend game, the driver thought we were going to RFK?!? Fun times! |
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Jack
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Post by Jack on Jan 16, 2008 19:04:42 GMT -5
You had to sign up for the buses? I didn't know that. I was in the band, so that wasn't an issue. What a privilege. I do remember the winding route the buses would usually take - over into Virgina, back across the Potomac on the 14th street bridge, across the 295 bridge into Anacostia, loop around a couple of times, and then take the Anacostia Freeway (?) out to Route 50. Coming home usually involved comign down New York Avenue. And that's when the bus driver knew what they hell they were doing. I remember one weekend game, the driver thought we were going to RFK?!? Fun times! I recall having to go to Vittles or McDonough to get a ticket for each bus trip- you got a voucher with your season tickets and you had to use that voucher to get your first bus ticket then go back for each subsequent bus ticket. To be fair, it made some sense- I am sure chartering the buses to the Cap Centre had some not insignifcant costs, so it was useful to know how many buses were needed for each game. As for the bus drivers, getting lost was always part of the adventure. It's not like we were going to some tiny gym- the place had 18,000 seats and was located just off a major thoroughfare for crying out loud, so you would think it would not be too difficult to find, no matter how far away or how miserable the traffic, but it was never certain how you would get there. |
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Post by regalmeans on Jan 16, 2008 22:04:21 GMT -5
Hold on there were metro cards in the student tickets?.... not in mine... I had heard that about last year but no one I know (grad students) got metro cards in our student ticket packages (and yes, we all have the same ones as the undergrads). I don't see why they couldn't just give us a metro card loaded with the correct amount for ALL the games. So they're giving them out at McD... when? I work and live off campus but I would definitely stop by for those if I was in the area.
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Post by Coast2CoastHoya on Jan 16, 2008 22:19:08 GMT -5
it is called a cab. get 4 buddies and hail one - even with the sheisty zone system - which I thought was supposed to be jettisoned...every cab i took last weekend was still zoning it - it is like 3 bucks a person. even a poor college kid can afford it. The date I read today was April 6. The min fare was lowered to $3 from $4; they also got rid of some of the extra charges and lowered the snow increase to 25% (from the 100% increase it had been under the zone sys). |
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vcjack
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Post by vcjack on Jan 16, 2008 22:28:56 GMT -5
Hold on there were metro cards in the student tickets?.... not in mine... I had heard that about last year but no one I know (grad students) got metro cards in our student ticket packages (and yes, we all have the same ones as the undergrads). I don't see why they couldn't just give us a metro card loaded with the correct amount for ALL the games. So they're giving them out at McD... when? I work and live off campus but I would definitely stop by for those if I was in the area. Were your tickets mailed to you or did you pick them up at McD? Because if the case is the latter then someone screwed up, possibly myself  |
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sead43
Silver Hoya (over 500 posts)
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Post by sead43 on Jan 16, 2008 23:07:27 GMT -5
Hold on there were metro cards in the student tickets?.... not in mine... I had heard that about last year but no one I know (grad students) got metro cards in our student ticket packages (and yes, we all have the same ones as the undergrads). I don't see why they couldn't just give us a metro card loaded with the correct amount for ALL the games. So they're giving them out at McD... when? I work and live off campus but I would definitely stop by for those if I was in the area. At the McD box office, Monday-Friday 1:00-5:30. remember, it's a "game-by-game" basis, so you only get passes for games in the immediate future (this week you get two, for ND and Cuse). |
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Post by ExcitableBoy on Jan 17, 2008 9:38:20 GMT -5
At the McD box office, Monday-Friday 1:00-5:30. remember, it's a "game-by-game" basis, so you only get passes for games in the immediate future (this week you get two, for ND and Cuse). Is one or two at a time really the best way to distribute $15 worth of metro cards? At some point doesn't the volunteers' (and the ticket holders') time become more valuable than ensuring people don't "scam the system" by getting a nominal number of free metro rides that they end up not using?? Can anyone elucidate the rationale for this kind of distribution? |
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Post by TrueHoyaBlue on Jan 17, 2008 10:11:10 GMT -5
I don't know the actual rationale, but I'd imagine that the Athletic Department only has to pay WMATA for the actual number of metro cards used. For 2,700 students, fifteen games on the season, and an average fare of $1.40 each way (accounting for rush hour surcharge one-way on weeknight games), you're talking about $115,000 on the season in metro cards alone. Seems like if there's a way to save a significant portion of that cash, it might make plenty of financial sense -- considering that student tickets are a financial net loss for the AD anyway, not even counting the metro cards.
Before anyone gets cranky, I'm not saying the AD shouldn't make student tickets a priority-- due to all of the non-financial benefits of student attendance in terms of atmosphere, etc. I'm just saying that when students pay roughly $100 for season tickets, and almost all of that money goes to bus and metro transportation (therefore reducing the potential revenue of sellouts like last Saturday's UConn game), it's not unreasonable to make people take the 100 yard walk to McDonough.
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