Passenger Bus, Rail and Motorcoach Industry News

The survey of 4,500 urban travelers in nine major cities in Brazil, France, Germany, South Korea, Spain, the U.K. and the U.S. showed that approximately 90% of people in these cities use public transportation on a regular basis and they are willing to pay more for technology improvements.

The ad appearing on the cards was purchased by The Gap, the iconic clothing retailer.

During the meeting, agencies discussed strategies for accepting open bank card payments for public transportation; challenges and opportunities for commuter rail; best practices for transit business and technical architectures; financial industry technologies and directions that affect fare collection; and the impact of new fare collection systems on fare policy.

The new GFI Odyssey “talking” fareboxes will accept more payment options, including cash, Metro tokens, and transfers, and offer improved ridership reporting capabilities.

American University and the University of Maryland have partnered with the agency to enable students to purchase and add value to SmarTrip fare cards on campus. Earlier this year, the University of Maryland purchased 5,000 SmarTrip cards for distribution to incoming freshman students.

As part of a four-year, $15 million contract with ACS, public transportation users will receive smart cards free of cost from the city, load them with a pre-paid amount. The new system consolidates the different fare options now used by the RTD.

Tri-Rail, the commuter rail service connecting Palm Beach and Broward Counties with Miami-Dade County, will be the first transit agency to join in the creation of a South Florida regional system, giving Floridians the ability to use one fare card — a smart card — to travel on both systems. Palm Tran and Broward County Transit are expected to join later.