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Date Posted: 12:02:01 02/16/03 Sun
Author: and will cover bus, rail and subway from the Atlantic coast of Virginia all the way to Ocean City, Md
Subject: The project will include 17 transit systems, .Washington

October 18, 2002

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Metro weighs bids for smart-card system
Eric Winig Staff Reporter

The Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority is weighing bids for a new regional customer service center that would allow transit riders to use one card for buses and trains throughout the D.C. area. Metro officials expect to award the multimillion dollar contract by year-end.




"What we're working on is extending SmarTrip technology to commuters throughout the region," says Murray Bond, director of SmarTrip, Metrorail's permanent, rechargeable farecard.



The project will include 17 transit systems, and will cover bus, rail and subway from the Atlantic coast of Virginia all the way to Ocean City, Md. Under the new system, riders will be able to use SmarTrip cards on any system in the region, with the fare cleared and settled at the new center. Participating transit systems would include Metro, Virginia Rail Express, MARC and all commuter rail and regional bus systems.



While Metro declines to say which companies are involved in the bid process, ERG, an Australian firm that provides similar systems around the world, says it has teamed with defense giant Northrop Grumman to submit a bid.



Metro is one of the first to attempt such a large-scale installation of a smart-card system in the United States, which has lagged Europe and Asia in implementing the technology. Singapore, Rome and Hong Kong, for example, all have smart-card systems that dwarf Metro's grandest plans.



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By comparison, Metro — which has 1.1 million riders a day — has issued about 300,000 SmarTrip cards.



Once the contract is awarded, Bond says implementation could be completed as early as next spring or as late as 2004.




© 2002 American City Business Journals Inc.

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