Southwest Ohio Regional Transit Authority (Metro) will use federal funding to begin installing new fareboxes on all 342 of its buses November 11.

Metro’s new GFI Odyssey fareboxes, from GFI Genfare, are being funded 80 percent by Section 5307 formula funds and Section 5309 discretionary earmark funds made available by the Federal Transit Administration, matched by 20 percent local funding. The total cost of the farebox project is $4.5 million.

Metro fareboxes collect about $22 million in fares annually, representing about 27 percent of Metro’s operating revenue. Metro’s current fareboxes are 17 years old and in need of replacement.

Metro’s new GFI Odyssey “talking” fareboxes will accept more payment options, including cash, Metro tokens and transfers.

Beginning in spring 2012, Metro will begin offering new fare payment options, including:

•    Change tickets issued by the farebox for U.S. bills up to $20

•    go*SMART “tap & go” smart cards that can be re-loaded or re-used

•    “Rolling” 30-day passes that will replace current monthly passes

•    Pre-paid $10, $20 or $50 stored value cards

Metro is also considering other pass options to meet customers’ needs.
The new fareboxes will offer improved ridership reporting capabilities to help Metro better analyze ridership patterns and make decisions related to service design and frequency.