Passenger Trains > ACE to sell instant tickets online

Published Friday, September 3, 2004, in the Modesto Bee

By Chris Tognery
Bee Staff Writer

Altamont Commuter Express passengers soon won't ever again have to
stand in line to buy a ticket, unless they want to, of course.
As of Oct. 1, passengers will be able to purchase "instant tickets"
via the Internet. ACE then will ship them to the buyer's home, ACE
officials said Thursday.

Passengers also will have the option of printing the ticket
themselves.

"We are the first in the world that we know of to do this," said Hal
Singer, ACE information technologies manager. "We can't find anyone
else -- in terms of regional transportation (like) bus, rail, light
rail and commuter rail -- offering instant tickets."

Because of anticipated Homeland Security Department demands, Singer
said he expects more regional transportation companies to launch
similar systems.

"Ideally, Homeland Security would like to know the name of every
passenger on every train in the U.S.," he said. "We're hearing that
loud and clear. The way our system is being set up, it will enable
us to easily implement their future requests."

To get an instant ticket, passengers will go to the ACE Web site
(www.acerail.com), pay for the ticket with a credit card, then print
it or have it sent to them.

The instant tickets will look like regular ACE paper tickets, Singer
said. They will be valid for 12 hours from the time of purchase.

The instant tickets will be electronically verified by ACE fare
inspection officers on the train.

ACE will offer the service for a 60-day trial period, during which
passengers only will be able to buy one-way tickets, Singer said.

At the end of the trial period, depending on passenger feedback, the
system will be expanded to include all tickets, including monthly
passes, Singer said.

"This will make it as easy as possible to get a ticket for our
commuter service," Singer said. "We expect there will be a very
positive response."

Nice that ACE is doing this, but it may be a "delusion of grandeur" for ACE to think that it is first.

Hardly so.

DB (German Railway) allows people to print their own tickets at home. And this past May, I took advantage of LIRR's on line ticket ordering system. The LIRR tickets were mailed at no cost to me, and were offered at a 5% discount from the ticket machine price. Try to beat that!