last night was the first opportunity i had to use the t's new fare system, the 'charlie card'. much to my surprise, it worked smoothly for everyone involved. i had an actual card, which is nice, because you can just kinda hold it near the sensor and walk on, out at the above-ground stations, just like security badges at large companies. the paper tickets worked nicely too. the same goes for proper stations, too. in both cases, i got aboard and/or through the turnstiles quickly. my friends with paper tickets got strange green strips of paper for some reason, maybe bus transfer tickets or something, but apart from that it was pretty nice. it may even make for quicker trips to the ballpark this summer. and as an added final bonus, it now makes it that much harder to accidentally spend your t fare on beer!