🚀 go-pugleaf

A few clarifications on the text in this news item:
 
1. For the read range, 3 inches would be more accurate - definitely
not 3 feet
 
2. The NYC Metrocard, although similar in concept, uses a magnetic
stripe card rather than a smart card

3. The ability for the transit agency to collect a database of
boardings linked with the card ID number is not a function of the card
data storage capability, since the boarding transactions are collected
by the card readers

Doug Parker
NOdparkerSPAM@NOmultisystemsSPAM.com
www.multisystems.com

"Elson" <elson@westworld.comMIT_MURDER_TO_SPAMMERS> wrote in message news:<qwAn8.739$nx6.782971@monger.newsread.com>...
> From:
> 
> http://www.downtownnews.com/display/inn_news/News_Articles/news3.txt
> 
> For posterity (as the contents of the above URL will change in a week):
> LOS ANGELES DOWNTOWN NEWS - MARCH 25, 2002 EDITION
> 
> Swipe and Ride
> 
> By Ed Ritchie
> 
> First Phase of MTA's 'Smart Cards' to Launch in September
> 
> After more than a decade of studies, surveys and false starts, the Los
> Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority has put its long
> awaited universal fare system (UFS) into high gear. The agency recently
> awarded an $84 million contract for smart cards and automated fare
> collection equipment to San Diego-based Cubic Transportation System, Inc.
> 
> Distribution of the plastic, wallet-sized smart cards, which allow bus and
> train riders to use a single pass while traveling on transportation systems
> operated by different municipal entities, is scheduled to begin within three
> years. However, an initial phase of the UFS program, a paper-flash regional
> pass, is scheduled to launch in late September.
> 
> Ten municipal bus operators have agreed to honor the pass, which the MTA
> tested last year on the Montebello Bus Lines.
> 
> "It's so significantly important because travel in Los Angeles County is
> sort of undefinable," said MTA CEO Roger Snoble. "People travel from every
> corner of the county to every other corner, and every place in-between.
> There needs to be one system so we can provide mobility."
> 
> Embedded with computer chips, the smart cards can hold 100 times the
> information of a magnetic strip. They will store fare credit and allow
> "seamless" access to MTA buses, trains, paratransit and MetroLink, plus the
> services offered by a total of 17 L.A. County municipal operators. The new
> system eliminates the need for tokens, cash and monthly passes. The cards
> automatically calculate fares, discounts and transfers between transit
> agencies. Users can buy fare credits at ticket vending machines and
> stand-alone validaters.
> 
> Card readers use radio frequencies to activate the cards from distances up
> to three feet and through clothing or purses and wallets. The MTA predicts
> that the system will contribute to faster boarding times and an overall
> improvement in commuting for the region's 1.2 million daily riders.
> 
> 
> Following New York
> 
> A smart card system has been extremely successful in New York City, where
> about 5.6 million riders per day use the MetroCard. New York City Transit
> credits its MetroCard program as the single largest factor in its
> double-digit ridership growth over the last five years.
> 
> If Los Angeles County were to experience similar growth, there would be some
> problems, Snoble acknowledged. "But those are nice problems to have," he
> added. "There are areas where we can accommodate growth and others where it
> would be difficult. We know we're going to be adding facilities and services
> to the system. But moving forward with the Rapid Bus system allows us to add
> capacity to the system without adding a lot of buses."
> 
> The Rapid Bus system works in combination with automated street lights and
> should speed travel times by as much as 25 percent on the Wilshire and
> Wilton corridors and Ventura Boulevard in the San Fernando Valley, according
> to the MTA. Plans have been approved for 23 more Rapid Bus lines, with lines
> 45/345 on South Broadway included in the first phase.
> 
> MTA spokesman Gary Wosk acknowledged that the cards and vending machines
> represent an unfamiliar technology to a majority of L.A. County transit
> users. To ensure that the new system finds easy acceptance, the changeover
> will occur in stages, accompanied by focus groups and an advertising
> program.
> 
> The agency hosted a workshop on March 18 to familiarize L.A. County's
> municipal transit operators with the program. Cubic Transportation
> representatives demonstrated the card readers and ticket vending machines,
> and the MTA conducted sessions on UFS administration and regional management
> issues.
> 
> 
> Two-Year Rollout
> 
> Included in the $84 million contract is a procurement of 750,000 smart
> cards. The order is significantly larger than the 300,000 Chicago ordered,
> or the 250,000 picked up by Washington, D.C., after both cities completed
> one-year pilot programs. But the larger quantity offers benefits, said Cubic
> Transit COO Richard Johnson.
> 
> "They agreed to buy that quantity to get pricing discounts," Johnson said.
> "The deliveries are scheduled over a period of time so they can market the
> product and build up the usage." Cubic will equip 2,700 MTA buses with card
> readers, plus the light rail system, and expects the rollout to take two
> years.
> 
> As with systems in Chicago, New York City and Washington D.C., a financial
> clearinghouse will handle the complex task of crediting and debiting fares
> between the various transit agencies. The MTA is currently working on
> contract parameters for the system.
> 
> Moving to a paperless system will help the MTA save on the expense of fraud,
> say agency officials. Current estimates of fraud losses at the agency range
> from $5.5 million to $11.1 million annually. The Chicago Transit Authority
> reports saving more than $11 million per year in fraud and employee handling
> errors since implementing its smart card program.
> 
> In the long run, the MTA plans to take advantage of the smart card's
> capability to hold more than just cash equivalents for use on transit.
> Prospects include partnerships with government entities, schools, convention
> centers, parking lots and retailers with businesses near transit stops and
> rail stations.
> 
> The MTA is also targeting employers in its marketing plans, offering to
> issue transportation reimbursements directly to an employee's smart card
> account through electronic transfers.
> 
> "It's a great benefit for employers," Snoble said. "They look at the cost of
> a regional pass and see that it's a lot cheaper than providing parking
> spaces and the pass is good for weekends so they can access cultural events,
> education and more."
> 
> The cards' storage capacity make it possible to keep usage information. Jane
> Matsumoto, MTA's UFS project manager, said that the agency will use the data
> to design new opportunities for customer loyalty programs and low fare
> discounts.
> 
> Municipal transit operators participating in the paper flash program
> include: Culver City Municipal Bus Lines, Foothill Transit, Montebello Bus
> Lines, Gardena Municipal Bus Lines, City of Commerce, Long Beach Transit,
> Norwalk Transit, Santa Monica Big Blue Bus, Torrance Transit, Santa Clarita
> Transit and L.A. Department of Transportation