Show your support by donating any amount. (Note: We are still technically a for-profit company, so your
contribution is not tax-deductible.)
PayPal Acct: 
Feedback: 
Donate to VoyForums (PayPal):
| Saturday, February 21, 04:17:22pm | [ Login ] [ Contact Forum Admin ] [ Main index ] [ Post a new message ] [ Search | Check update time | Archives: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 ] |
| Subject: A universal fare card for the Bay area Potentially the TransLink® program can connect 21 different transit agencies. | |
|
Author: By Emily PattersonMay 2002 |
[
Next Thread |
Previous Thread |
Next Message |
Previous Message
]
Date Posted: Friday, May 02, 05:55:03am In reply to: Visa Cash Solution for Public Transportation Bill Powell San Francisco CA USALast modified: 01/24/2001 06:07:41 PM 's message, "San Francisco--seperate file." on Saturday, April 05, 01:49:34am http://www.masstransitmag.com/script/search.asp?SearchSiteURL=/articles/2002/mt_05-02/mt_05-02_04.htm ----------------------------------------------------------- A universal fare card for the Bay area Potentially the TransLink® program can connect 21 different transit agencies. ----------------------------------------------------------- By Emily Patterson ----------------------------------------------------------- May 2002 ----------------------------------------------------------- California's Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC) recently launched phase I of its TransLink® universal transit fare card program, linking routes and stations on six of the region's largest transit agencies. ----------------------------------------------------------- Phase I began in February with the issuance of TransLink® cards to 4,300 volunteers who frequently use mass transit. This initial phase of the program is the seed of a larger plan to eventually link all transit providers in the Bay area. "The intent behind the entire program is to create a single card that can be used everywhere. A single point of interface for the customer for their fare payments and all the customer services relative to fare payments," says TransLink® project manager Russell Driver. ----------------------------------------------------------- As the metropolitan planning organization for the San Francisco, California, Bay area, the Metropolitan Transportation Commission oversees 21 transit agencies. Managing customer services and programs in a region where no one agency holds a dominant share of the ridership calls for quite a bit of coordination on MTC's part. ----------------------------------------------------------- MTC began plans for a universal fare card in the mid to late '80s as a means of creating a seamless travel experience for the customer. "We have been working for a very long time to make it easier for passengers to use multiple transit districts to make their trips, and particularly in the last 10 years where commute patterns are changing so much like everywhere else in that they're not focused on downtown areas necessarily. We do find people having to use multiple transit districts more and more frequently," says Driver. ----------------------------------------------------------- Phase I cards work across selected routes of six agencies: AC Transit, BART, Caltrain, Golden Gate Transit, San Francisco Muni and the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority. "They're six of our largest agencies but only on a portion of each of their systems," says Driver. "But they do all knit together to form a network that covers the whole Bay area and does involve every transit mode that we have here including ferry, diesel bus, light rail vehicle, heavy subway and the like." ----------------------------------------------------------- In March, MTC announced plans to implement TransLink® throughout Muni Metro's light rail system and issue 2,000 to 3,000 additional cards. ----------------------------------------------------------- The TransLink® smart card works in both contact and contactless applications. ----------------------------------------------------------- The trouble with fares ----------------------------------------------------------- MTC has contracted with Motorola Inc. and ERG Ltd. to implement and operate the system. Based on a dual interface smart card with a proximity means of accessing the chip as well as a contact plate on the side, the TransLink® card works in both contact and contactless applications and adheres to the fare schedules of all the participating transit agencies. ----------------------------------------------------------- "That multiplied the complexity of the system design by a huge factor because all of those fare instruments have their own quirky policies that go with them," says Driver. "We've tested transfers that I frankly don't know if more than half a dozen people use just because there are some strange transfers out there. But they're important from the point of view that they directly affect the customer." ----------------------------------------------------------- Driver emphasizes MTC's goal of implementing technologies that make transfers and fare payment easy and understandable. "In a sense it's the most important element of the software that we've put together because we want to guarantee that the customer's experience is seamless in that they don't have the wrong fare deducted or their transfer window is calculated incorrectly or anything like that." ----------------------------------------------------------- Coordinating multiple fare structures also calls for concessions from participating transit agencies. "That takes a certain amount of effort on everyone's part. It was challenging working with six agencies at the same time. Some of them had to make policy decisions or change (fare) policies to adapt this new technology. So there was a lot of compromise all the way around." ----------------------------------------------------------- Driver sees the need to make fare structures understandable to passengers as one of the most important issues to address in the future. "In the long term, the biggest challenge to the program is going to be to find a way that we can sort of rationalize the fare structures of all the transit agencies. Not consolidate them, but make it so they're understandable from the customer's point of view," says Driver. ----------------------------------------------------------- "We want to be able to put a fare product in front of the customer in the form of this TransLink® card where we can say to them, 'All you need to worry about is having some value on the card and when you use it we'll guarantee you're getting the best price for riding transit.'" ----------------------------------------------------------- Non-transit partnerships ----------------------------------------------------------- In the early stages of the project, MTC originally focused on magnetic stripe cards but moved away from that media in part because of concerns over costs and reliability of on-board reading equipment in the rough-and-tumble transit environment. MTC found smart cards to better fit its needs and those of non-transit players interested in partnering on the card in the future. ----------------------------------------------------------- "We designed a program looking at non-transit types of opportunities and multiple applications on the card," says Driver. "Dual interface smart cards got a lot of people interested for a lot of different reasons." ----------------------------------------------------------- MTC is exploring a number of avenues to introduce non-transit partners, ranging from merchants and sports teams to a possible collaboration with San Francisco's department of parking and traffic to accept the card on parking meters. "One thing that's been clear in all these discussions is there's a lot of interest out there. Particularly if we have a card when it's fully regionally deployed that's in a million customers' hands." ----------------------------------------------------------- Financial settlement processing ----------------------------------------------------------- "One of the things that sets us apart from other things that are going on in this country in particular is that we are working with different transit agencies. In the context of financial settlement we have a full transaction processing center and clearinghouse where we go through a settlement cycle everyday and move funds electronically between all the participants' bank accounts the next day," says Driver. TransLink®'s financial settlement process is modeled in part on the system in Hong Kong. ----------------------------------------------------------- Despite the TransLink® system's array of high-tech bells and whistles, Driver insists that technology takes a back seat to the MTC's overall mission for the project. "With the Metropolitan Transportation Commission, at this point in time, we do see the program as a customer service project primarily and not a technology program." ----------------------------------------------------------- Phase I of the project will undergo further testing at the initial six systems. Driver looks forward to fully implementing TransLink® in phase II of the program and beyond. "If it all goes well, we intend to roll the program out across the entire Bay area to all 21 transit systems." ----------------------------------------------------------- [ Next Thread | Previous Thread | Next Message | Previous Message ] |
| Subject | Author | Date |
| S Duffy San Fran phone 15/5/03. | he states--what Cubic have done is filed a motion concerning misuse of taxpayers funds | Thursday, May 15, 06:53:35am |