The signs at the tram stops exhort you to validate your Ridacard before travelling, and the Edinburgh Trams web site states: "make sure you validate your Ridacard before boarding any tram - If you don’t, you will have to pay the On-board fare." But does validating the card actually do anything beyond confirming to the user that the card is valid for travel? I have in the past validated my Ridacard as the tram was pulling in to the stop, boarded the tram and had my card checked by the "Ticketing Services Assistant" all within about 30 seconds. Does the box of electronics that the TAS uses to check my Ridacard really get updated over the air that quickly?
On a related note, I find the validation machines on the tram platforms quite difficult to use. In bright sunshine such as we have been enjoying recently the screen itself is quite difficult to see. I know there are coloured lights which also show the status of the validation, but they are recessed into the machine's casing and a six-footer like me has to stoop to see them. Not a particular ergonomic design IMO.
(And don't get me started on the uselessness of the schedule display on the eastbound platform at Haymarket. It seems to have been carefully positioned so that the passenger shelter on that platform blocks the view of anyone on the platform who isn't standing within about six feet of the thing. The one on the westbound platform doesn't seem to have this problem - in fact it's readily visible from most of the the eastbound platform as well!)
On a related note, I find the validation machines on the tram platforms quite difficult to use. In bright sunshine such as we have been enjoying recently the screen itself is quite difficult to see. I know there are coloured lights which also show the status of the validation, but they are recessed into the machine's casing and a six-footer like me has to stoop to see them. Not a particular ergonomic design IMO.
(And don't get me started on the uselessness of the schedule display on the eastbound platform at Haymarket. It seems to have been carefully positioned so that the passenger shelter on that platform blocks the view of anyone on the platform who isn't standing within about six feet of the thing. The one on the westbound platform doesn't seem to have this problem - in fact it's readily visible from most of the the eastbound platform as well!)