In 2007, 40 percent of rail passengers across the U.S. used smart cards to pay their fares.

Transit Innovation: One Card Fits All

In Los Angeles, the days of carrying transit passes, a wallet full of credit cards, or fiddling around for exact change will soon be over.  L.A. County’s Metropolitan Transportation Authority (LACMTA), in partnership with Visa, is testing a new, prepaid contactless payment card called the Transit Access Pass (TAP) Prepaid Visa card.  It will allow passengers to pay for their regional and local transit needs, as well as groceries or books – wherever Visa is accepted.  LACMTA also expects passengers to use the transit card to buy coffee, the morning paper, dry cleaning services, and even rent bikes.  While smart card technology is not a new concept to the worldwide transit industry, L.A. County transit officials are furthering the capabilities of the current TAP card (originally introduced in 2006) to offer transit riders special incentives, discounts, promotional offers, and loyalty rewards from area businesses.  Preliminary forecasts expect more than 133,000 cards will be in circulation over the next three years, generating approximately $7.7 million in revenue for LACMTA during that same period.

This 12-month pilot program is part of LACMTA’s $89 million comprehensive regional strategy not only to upgrade, improve and coordinate fare collection, but also incentivize businesses near transit and streamline the payment process in other non-transit industries.  Because many of the Metro system’s stations share space with businesses, parking structures, or bike facilities, this one-card-fits-all approach will simplify the many components of daily life with one easy, quick touch.  While agencies can lower operating costs and improve efficiency, local businesses will benefit from the new wave of Metro riders now enabled with a single card relationship.

In the Chicago region, the Regional Transit Authority (RTA) has been exploring a universal fare card system to better coordinate fare collection between the region’s three transit operators.  As the discussions for a new regional fare card unravel, the RTA has been looking at Los Angeles’ TAP program as a potential model for Chicago.  Metra’s recent upgrade from cash to plastic makes the possibilities of an integrated, convenient, and seamless fare card system more feasible.

Photo courtesy of Fred Dennstedt

For Additional Information:

• Transit Access Pass – LA County
• Visa- TAP Prepaid Card – Metro

 

NEWS

Local News

CTA rail stations to get high-resolution digital security cameras – Chicago Tribune “Two types of surveillance systems -- one to monitor CTA rail stations, the other to track the whereabouts of buses -- will be used to fight crime and traffic congestion, officials said Wednesday.”

Metra rolls out new Web site that will take credit cards – Chicago Tribune “Thanks to a new Metra Web site that rolls out Wednesday, 312,000 daily commuters will be able to buy 10-ride tickets and monthly passes online with credit cards, as well as get e-mail alerts when trains are running late.”

O'Hare to get competition? – DCVelocity “A site just 40 miles from O'Hare International might not sound like the best place to build a cargo airport. But that's not stopping officials in Will County, Ill.”

Tollway project pushed through with less scrutiny, public input – Daily Herald “Tollway work has caused major backups along I-90 as well as I-294. Motorists who have suffered through the traffic jams would lose one of the added lanes to carpoolers, under a Green Lanes plan.”

Illinois looks for pair of benefits on high-speed rail travel – Chicago Tribune “Officials in Illinois, which was once a leader in the train-building industry, are working to ensure the state benefits on both sides of the supply-and-demand equation: as a major player in train manufacturing and as a customer buying new locomotives and passenger cars.”

Can it stop in Joliet? –Herald News “Creating so-called ‘livable communities,’ which are more compact like traditional downtown areas and less sprawling than the suburbs of recent decades, is a priority in determining who gets federal money for high-speed rail projects.”

Panel doubtful of Olympic plan for Metra – Chicago Sun-Times “The International Olympic Committee report released Wednesday warned that Chicago's proposed transport plan would more than double rush-hour traffic on Metra.”

High-speed rail plan calls for nine overpasses – State Journal-Register “The Union Pacific Railroad is suggesting the city of Springfield close five rail crossings and build nine overpasses and one underpass along a 4.4-mile stretch that cuts through the heart of downtown.”

World News

Dubai unveils $7.6-billion mass-transit rail system – Los Angeles Times “The United Arab Emirates city is emphasizing the public transportation system's luxuriousness, such as VIP cars. But authorities hope it will ease traffic congestion.”

Eleven UK cities campaign for high-speed rail network – Guardian “Eleven big cities will announce a joint campaign for a high-speed rail network serving the entire country tomorrow.”

Race Is On to Grab Stake in Rail Effort – Wall Street Journal “The Obama administration is poised to spend $8 billion in stimulus funds on high-speed-rail projects, kicking off a scramble among states and railroads, train makers, construction firms and other companies angling to profit from the unprecedented stream of federal funding.”

Midwestern States All Aboard High-Speed-Rail Push – NPR “Of the regions vying for grants from the $8 billion set aside by the Obama administration for the development of high-speed rail, the plan centered in the president's hometown seems to be one of the front-runners.”

States Cut Back and Layoffs Hit Even Recipients of Stimulus Aid – New York Times “The layoffs at New Flyer are a vivid illustration of the way that some of the economic impact of the $787 billion federal stimulus law is being diluted by the actions state and local governments are taking to weather the recession.”

A Hitch For Rail Riders: Getting To Final Destination – NPR “Planners refer to the concept as ‘multimodal design,’ and they say without it, the whole idea of high-speed transportation begins to break down.”

Drive-By Pricing – Forbes “The U.S. cities exploring congestion pricing are discovering, as London has, that it can do more than unclog vital arteries.”

Siemens and Deutsche Bahn Plan US High-Speed Rail Offensive – Spiegel “German engineering giant Siemens and national railway operator Deutsche Bahn are making plans to penetrate the US rail market.”

Resources

• Gridlock and Growth: The Effect of Traffic Congestion on Regional Economic Performance – Reason Foundation
• America THINKS Funding Factsheet – HNTB
• National Traffic Scorecard 2009 Mid-Year Update – INRIX
• Federal Livability Framework: A Central Role for Regions – National Association of Regional Councils

 

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Contact Information
For comments, suggestions or submissions, please contact Emily Tapia Lopez, Associate, at etapia@metroplanning.org or 312-863-6047.