On Thursday, the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency (SFMTA) announced a plan to install new TransLink-only fare gates and new ticket vending machines (TVMs) in its nine Muni Metro stations. The $29 million project will make it more convenient for transit customers to pay for and ride Muni and is funded in part by $11 million in federal stimulus funding from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. 

"This project is a great example of the use of federal stimulus dollars to create jobs and to bring state-of-the-art technology to San Francisco," said Mayor Gavin Newsom. "We need to re-invest in the infrastructure of the Muni system to fulfill the promise of our Transit First city."

The fare collection project includes the installation of 98 fare gate aisles, including extra-wide lanes that are compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act. Up to 40 new TVMs will be placed in Muni Metro stations and possibly other locations outside the subway. The fare gates and TVMs will eliminate cash transactions at the fare gates and help customers access the subway more quickly. Also included in the project are new station agent fare gate control terminals, test equipment, and improved financial and ridership reporting tools.

The SFMTA is working with the Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC), which manages the TransLink program, to deliver the fare collection project by the end of 2010. Cubic Transportation Systems Inc. assumed responsibility for the TransLink contract with MTC earlier this summer and will install the new Muni fare collection equipment.

TransLink is an electronic fare payment system that allows transit customers to use one convenient, secure card to ride the many public transportation systems throughout the Bay Area. A trial period of TransLink use on Muni (except cable cars) began last December, and there are now more than 6,000 daily transactions on the system.