Long lines, confusion mark Charlie’s debut

Some riders waited anywhere from 15 to 25 minutes in line to get to a machine and add credit to their Charlie Cards or purchase paper Charlie Tickets, which officially phased out coin tokens on the subway.

Other riders were confused by the new electronic gate system, which requires paper tickets to be inserted and Charlie Cards to be waved in front of a black pad. Gone are the turn styles of MBTA’s past.

The MBTA had one greeter, customer service agent Denise Meaney, at the Oak Grove station on Tuesday morning to hand out Charlie Cards and assist commuters with the new machines and gate system.

Meaney jumped back and forth between machines and the gate as she tried to answer the myriad questions volleyed her way.

Despite the extra help, not all commuters were happy with the new system – and the lines it caused – as the new cards were unfurled on Tuesday morning, just after a busy holiday period.

“I don’t come through this station too much, so I am pretty used to using the system at other places in the city, but it does seem like people are having a rough time with it here,” said Joseph Stasio, a Web programmer from East Boston, who was using the Malden Center orange line MBTA station Tuesday afternoon. “I haven’t waited in a line this long for the T in quite a while.”

With Meaney constantly occupied, some riders who figured out how to work the gates stood close by and offered advice to other commuters. Among them was Helen Cargill, who offered pointers while waiting for her traveling companion.

“It’s stupid. There’s no way of telling what way to do it, how to use the Charlie pass … there’s nothing to show us what to do,” she said. “And the fact that the machine’s not working over there, and it’s the first of the month, and everybody’s just come back to work.”

MBTA spokesman Lydia Rivera, in an e-mail interview last week, said commuters experienced longer lines than usual on Tuesday morning partially due to riders purchasing monthly passes directly from machines.

“This occurs each month as customers normally approach any of our three locations to purchase a pass,” she said. “Now, they have the convenience of loading a pass from one of our machines, thus avoiding a trip to one of our sales locations.”

Al Corona, who was chaperoning a group of students from Melrose High, took up a post by the gate while waiting for the students and offered instructions. Corona said riders seemed upset as he stood by and gave what advice he could.

“It’s the first day and then the price went up,” he said. As of Monday, subway fare rose from $1.25 to $1.70 and local bus fare rose from .90 cents to $1.25. “It’s a new kind of ticket, and I’ve already been through it last night coming back from New York.”

Some riders said long lines kept them from noticing the MBTA representatives on hand to help.

“I have no idea how to do it. Why isn’t there anybody here helping people?” said Rick Goldstein, one of several riders who pay for and receive “corporate” T passes through their company. Several such pass holders had difficulty getting their new cards to work.

“It’s supposed to be valid from my work, but it’s not,” said Sandra Hale. “This isn’t working.”

Other riders said they had hoped to see more instructional signs and how-to placards displayed around the station.

“There’s not a lot of instructions on how to use [the card],” said Greg Sinnott, who commutes every day at Oak Grove. “It basically takes a while.”

And one card machine was out-of-order this week, which left only one other machine working on the west side of the station lobby. Another technical glitch occurred when one of the gates stopped taking paper tickets and could only be used with Charlie Cards.

“Double the number of the machines. One of the machines is out of service. It’s ridiculous,” said Jim Kennedy, who commuted on the first day – Tuesday – that the new system was used in Oak Grove. “It’s a good system, probably. They’re just ironing out the kinks.”