Smart Cards and U.S. Public Transportation

Number 6 - Revised June 2006

Contactless smart cards, credit card-sized plastic cards with an embedded antenna and computer chip, are beginning to gain traction at U.S. public transit agencies. The contactless electronic link between card and reader equipment allows for a very fast interface that is needed by mass transit. Using smart cards to replace traditional transit tickets or tokens holds the promise of reducing cash handling, equipment maintenance, and security costs; increasing convenience for riders; improving collection of ridership data; lending a more modern image to transit; and providing new opportunities for innovative fare structures and marketing.

Overview

Smart Card Primer. Charles Cagliostro, 1999.

The Smart Card Alliance, an industry association of over 185 firms, provides a web site with several introductory documents on smart card technology, plus industry news, a product catalog, member list, etc.
Source: Smart Card Alliance web site: http://www.smartcardalliance.org/industry_info/smart_cards_primer.cfm

Smart Card Technology Just Got Smarter. Amy Carter, November/December 2001.
A good introduction to some of the key issues in implementing smart card technology in transit.
Source: Metro Magazine: http://www.metro-magazine.com/t_featpick.cfm?id=90503020

Fare Policies, Structures and Technologies: Update. Multisystems, Inc. 2003.
Chapter 3 of this recent TCRP Report presents benefits to customers and agencies of the smart card technology, and examines issues such as costs, standards, interoperability, and multiapplication programs.
Source: TCRP Report 94, Transportation Research Board,National Research Council.
Location: http://gulliver.trb.org/publications/tcrp/tcrp_rpt_94.pdf

Smart Cards Deployed in Current Transit Operations

Washington Metropolitan Transportation Authority - SmarTrip
WMATA was the first public transportation system in the U.S. to adopt smart cards, launching a pilot program in 1999. By the end of 2004, over 800,000 of the permanent, rechargeable plastic smart cards, which hold up to $200.00 in fare value, had been sold. One third of WMATA Metrorail riders use SmarTrip cards regularly. SmarTrip has been expanded to Metro parking lots and to bus transit, and will eventually cover other regional rail service over a total of 17 transit systems.
WMATA Web site: http://www.wmata.com/riding/smartrip.cfm
Sources: APTA 2001 Rail Transit Conference Proceedings paper by C. Maxey & P. Benjamin. Click here for .pdf file.
APTA 2003 TransITech Conference presentation "Regional SmarTrip System" Click here for .pdf file.

Chicago Transit Authority - Chicago Card Plus
As of March, 2004 there are more than 67,000 Chicago Cards in use. The system is interoperable across the CTA's rail turnstiles and bus fare boxes as well as the PACE suburban bus system, making it the nation's first muti-agency, multi-modal smart card system for public transit. Special features of the Chicago Card include automatic reloading when the stored value drops below $10.00, and passback privileges allow up to seven customers to board the same bus or pass through the same rail station turnstile using one card.
CTA Web Site: http://www.transitchicago.com/store/faremedia/ccard/

Ventura County Transportation Commission - Go Ventura
Ventura County, CA has installed a smart card system on 100 buses, involving a half-dozen public transit operators in the county. The cards, which will also be used for free bus rides by California State University students, will eventually be available on the area's commuter rail system. A report of the three year smart card demonstration program that preceded Ventura's current revenue service smart card system is referenced below.
VCTC Web Site: http://www.goventura.org/home/index.asp
Source: Federal Highway Administration, Ventura County Fare Integration: A Case Study, September 2001.

Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority - Breeze
Breeze is a system of electronic cards that will replace the token-or-coin system MARTA uses at present. The cards will operate new, 6-foot-tall jumper-proof gates. Installation of the Breeze system began in December, 2005 and will continue throughout 2006. The new system will allow commuters to use one card to pay for rail, bus, L-van (paratransit) fares and park-and-ride fees. A limited-use and extended-use card will both be employeed once the system is fully operational.
Website: http://www.breezecard.com

Examples of Transit Smart Card Applications in Development

Bay Area Translink
ERG Transit, an Australian corportation, will be installing the TransLink card system in each of 21 Bay Area transit systems through a contract with the Metropolitan Transportation Commission. The TransLink card is scheduled to be made available to Golden Gate Ferry and Golden Gate Transit bus users in October 2004, with AC Transit riders following soon afterward.
Website: http://www.translink.org/jsp/index.jsp
Source: A Universal Fare Card for the Bay Area, Emily Patterson, in Mass Transit, May, 2002.

Central Florida Regional Transportation Authority
LYNX (Central Florida Regional Transportation Authority), along with the Orlando-Orange County Expressway Authority, and the City of Orlando Parking Authority, conducted an FTA-sponsored test in 2004 of a multi-agency application of smart card technology. This initiative, called ORANGES, allowed for electronic payment of bus fares on selected LYNX routes, as well as parking fees at city lots and expressway tolls.
Website: http://www.golynx.com/?pid=1155675

Central Puget Sound Regional Fare Coordination Project
Seven transportation agencies led by King County Metro Transit are in the process of implementing a regional fare collection program targeted to be operational in 2006. The smart card technology (provided by ERG Transit Systems) will ultimately allow linked trips between bus transit, ferries and rail. Any agency in Washington, Idaho or Oregon can join the project.
Website: http://transit.metrokc.gov/prog/smartcard/smartcard.html

Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority
In March 2002, LACMTA awarded a contract to link all public transit in Los Angeles with one smart card-based system. By Summer 2005, the Universal Fare System will offer a single payment system to the participating agencies in the region, which will allow commuters to pay for subway, light rail, bus, and bus rapid transit services with one smart card.
Source: http://www.cubic.com/corp1/news/pr/2004/Cubic_LA_DOT_contract_final_2-4.html (Cubic release)

Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority- Charlie Card
MBTA introduced a paper "Charlie Ticket" in May, 2005, replacing metal tokens. The paper ticket is scheduled to be replaced by the smart "Charlie Card" in 2006. Passengers will be able to add value to the card at machines located in transit stations. Charlie Cards will also be useable on MBTA buses.
Website: http://www.mbta.com/projects_underway/easyway.asp

Minneapolis/St. Paul Metro Transit
The $17 million project will provide an integrated smart card-based fare collection system on Metro Transit buses and the new Hiawatha Light Rail line, as well as buses operated by other regional transit providers. The "Go-To Card" system will exist alongside the current farebox system in buses. LRT riders will purchase tickets at the platform or have valid Go-To Cards to board trains. The Go-To Cards are being tested by several hundred volunteers, with the program scheduled to be open to the general public in first quarter 2006.
Source: Metro Transit Web Site http://www.metrocouncil.org/directions/transit/smartcards.htm

Port Authority Trans-Hudson Corporation SmartLink
In test mode at present, this integrated regional transit fare payment system will accept PATH's new SmartLink smart card, along with MTA NYCT MetroCards, and PATH's current fare ticket, the Quick-Card. With full installation, customers will be able to purchase the SmartLink card online, check card balances online, register their cards against loss, and arrange for auto-loading of value.
Source: Passenger Transport June 6, 2005 Read Article

 

Corporations

ASK S.A. This French firm produces contactless smart cards for a number of European cities. Its C.ticket product provides dual cards (contact and contactless interfaces on the same card) complying with ISO 14443 standard. ASK recently began a pilot program in Toronto with an initial order of 12,000 cards.
Web Site: http://www.ask.fr/

Axalto
Axalto, a SchlumbergerSema company, is providing smart card technology for the London Underground and bus system, for the French railway SNCF, and for the Norwegian public transit network.
Web Site: http://www.axalto.com/transport/index.asp

Cubic Transportation Systems
Cubic's smart card technology was employed in Washington DC's SmarTrip, the first contactless smart card to be used system-wide in a US city. Under a subsequent contract, Cubic will extend SmartTrip across all WMATA buses as well as the heavy rail system. Cubic has also signed contracts for the introduction of smart cards in the San Diego area and in Chicago and Los Angeles.
Web Site: http://www.cubic.com/cts/index.html

ERG Group
ERG Transit Systems developed the world's largest integrated contactless smart card fare collection system in Hong Kong, known as Octopus. More than 6.6 million cards are in active use in Hong Kong. Recently, ERG assumed responsibility for the implementation of the TransLink fare payment system in the San Francisco Bay Area.
Web Site: http://www.erggroup.com

Scheidt & Bachmann
Scheidt & Bachmann is the provider of the Charlie SMART card system at the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority. In December, 2005 the City of Phoenix and Scheidt & Bachmann USA, Inc. signed a $12.5 million dollar 5-year agreement to provide the City of Phoenix, the Regional Public Transportation Authority (RPTA) and the City of Tempe with a new fare collection system utilizing Scheidt & Bachmann's VAREpoint © fareboxes and smart card technology.
Web Site: http://www.scheidt-bachmann.com

News Updates

Electronic Payment
ITS America's web site includes a section on current news relating to electronic payment technology. While broader than just transit, it is a good resource for keeping current on applications to transit, and developments in the field of electronic payment technology.
Source: ITS America web site: http://www.itsa.org/payment.html

Transportation Communications Newsletter
A free electronic newsletter that covers all aspects of communications technology innovation in transportation including smart card technology.
Source: To subscribe, send an e-mail message to: transport-communications-subscribe@yahoogroups.com

APTA Information Center
info@apta.com

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