UTA to test contactless payment card system
The Utah Transit Authority thinks it has a solution: A high-tech, "contactless" payment card. Instead of searching for cash, all you need to do is wave the card by a digital reader and board the bus or train.
The cards could be pre-pay or used like a credit card.
Come January, UTA will begin seeking bids from companies to design a program using contactless fare collection. The agency hopes to implement a pilot program on its 40 ski buses next winter. If successful, UTA's entire fare system could become electronic, perhaps by late 2008.
"This is about convenience for the customer, ease of payment," said Clair Fiet, UTA's chief technology officer. "In theory, gone are the lines at ticket vending machines."
At first glance, moving to a contactless fare system seems advantageous. For one, it would allow UTA to track passengers and adjust fares according to the distance they ride.
Two, the system could be adjusted to accept contactless credit cards.
Earlier this year, Visa, MasterCard and American Express began distributing contactless credit cards within the United States. Fiet says the potential exists for UTA to enter into an agreement with those companies to allow transit users to pay for a ride with their contactless credit card.
For the security-conscious, Fiet offers this assurance: UTA wouldn't have access to their personal information. They don't want it. Let the credit card companies handle that data, he said.
"It's the intention of UTA to proactively protect privacy in every stage of the fare collection process," he said. "That's number one on our priority list as we look into new systems."
But the agency does want to know where and how you ride — and contactless cards could make gathering that information easier. UTA spokesman Justin Jones says knowing the habits of riders will allow the transit agency to "more equitably" set ticket prices based on distance traveled. If you ride a short distance, the fare is less. If you ride a long distance, the fare is more.
In general, low-income riders travel shorter distances. With UTA's current fare system, these riders pay the same amount as riders who travel longer distances.
Elizabeth Matthews, a low-income advocate at the Crossroads Urban Center in Salt Lake City, said she supports a distance-based fare system but would have to see what UTA is proposing with the contactless payment system.
"I think logistics need to be worked out before we get really excited or angry about this," she said.
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