This morning Fox 7 filmed a demo of Capital Metro’s new ticket vending machines that are being installed at all of our MetroRail stations.
You can try out the new ticket vending machines at one of four remaining open houses this month, beginning with Plaza Saltillo this Saturday. Here’s more info.
capmetroblog.com 
Thanks for the TVM preview, Erica!
Can you explain a little more about how to ticketing process will work? My understanding so far is that tickets will be immediately validated when they are dispensed, so I suppose they cannot be purchased in advance at the TVM and later validated. How will tickets be validated that are not purchased at the TVM?
When you demonstrated the TVM transaction, I clocked about at least 30 seconds for each transaction. Do you have any concerns about the TVM becoming a bottleneck when many people plan to buy a ticket at a platform for the same train (and they arrive roughly at the same time)?
As a former light rail user in Denver, I never experienced a bottleneck at the TVMs. Most passengers purchase monthly passes, and so they will not need to use the ticket machines on a daily basis. Also, I am assuming that Capital Metro will have more than one TVM per station, which will further help to minimize bottlenecks at the TVM.
vindobonensis–Yes, when you purchase a ticket or pass from the TVM at one of the rail stations, it will already be validated–the clock will be activated. However, you can still buy unvalidated passes online and at the Transit Store at 323 Congress. (We installed a TVM at the Transit Store that is programmed to dispense unvalidated tickets.)
Each station has two validators on site. So, if you bought your tickets in advance online, you will need to activate the clock by inserting your ticket into the validator (takes less than 5 seconds).
Thirty seconds is probably close to accurate, although during the demo I was talking the whole time (and not a great multi-tasker) so maybe it could be done faster. 😉 You couldn’t tell from the demo, though, that there’s actually two TVMs on site. And actually that’s the case at all of the stations, so that should help move people through the line.
oh, also, I think you can buy unvalidated passes from HEB as well
So the tickets that are time validated those tickets are good for 2hrs correct so it is not 1.50 one way and there are passes that i can purchase a ticket for bus,metrorail,express bus. everything for the two hrs trying to figure this one out sorry if i seem alittle behind on this
Parker Beauty — One way tickets are valid for two hours and can be used only for the train and the rail connector bus routes at MLK and Downtown. If you want a pass that is good on all of our services (rail, bus, dillo) you need to purchase a MetroPlus Day Pass for $3 or a MetroPlus 31-Day Pass for $36.