Utah Transit Authority Approach to Electronic Fare Collection

Transcription

1 Utah Transit Authority Approach to Electronic Fare Collection Craig Roberts Electronic Fare Collection Contractor Smart Card Alliance 2005 Fall Annual Conference Thursday, October 13,

2 Presentation UTA Overview Fare Collection Context Tentative Approach to Electronic Fare Collection Planned Pilot/Demonstration 2

3 Why is UTA Interested? Improved customer service Improved operations Reduction of unpaid fares Ridership and payment data for service and fare planning Increased ridership and revenue (?) 3

4 UTA Overview 489 regular buses Forty ski service buses 80 paratransit vehicles TRAX light rail line has 46 vehicles on two lines over 18 miles Commuter rail service is to start in 2008 with an initial 44 mile line 4

5 UTA Overview (2) Serves the urban counties of Utah Population of 1.9 million Area of 1400 square miles. Only major transit operator in the region 32 million trips per year, $136 million operating budget 14% of cost ($20 million) covered by fares Passes responsible for 70-80% of fare revenue Ed Pass, Eco Pass and ski resort third party payers Periodic passes sold through retail outlets Cash collections through fare boxes total $3.5M Adult base cash fare is $1.40 with a two hour transfer 5

6 Fare Collection Context No automated fare collection legacy Simple fare boxes on buses store cash; don t register, validate nor collect data TRAX light rail ticket vending machines issue paper tickets, accepting only cash and tokens for honor, proof of payment system A proof of payment system with zones planned for commuter rail in

7 Smart Bus Communications System Custom designed console operator interface Radio and on-board computer GPS Single log-on and control of all electronic devices WIFI links bus to garage Internally designed Non-proprietary system, open architecture Off-the-shelf hardware and software 7

8 UTA Vision for Contactless Fare Payment UTA Fare card with own application License UTA application to third parties (e.g., universities, ski resorts, banks) Merchant for contactless credit, debit and prepaid Visa, MasterCard and American Express cards Broad distribution of limited use cards for visitors, occasional users and current cash customers Distance based fares 8

9 Approach Take incremental (phased), iterative and collaborative approach to development and deployment Invest in our own technical capability to understand and ultimately modify systems; Own systems integration IP Leaning toward a primarily account based approach Proactively address and protect privacy from the beginning; in architecture and design; procedures, operations and outreach activity 9

10 Iterative and Collaborative Engender partnership with contractors in development of systems Develop by creating prototypes, testing and then recreating Limit documentation requirements until we find what works Be able to make modifications all through development process as problems are identified Engage stakeholders throughout 10

11 Pilot Purposes Familiarize UTA and its stakeholders with the reality of contactless electronic fare collection Understand issues that will need to be addressed and gain experience for full deployment Solve an immediate problem 11

12 Ski Service UTA provides canyon ski service in Salt Lake County Big and Little Cottonwood Canyons Alta, Snowbird, Brighton and Solitude resorts Seven dedicated park and ride lots Connections to TRAX light rail 12

13 UTA Ski Service 13

14 Ski Service Passes UTA accepts season ski passes and employee IDs as bus passes and resorts subsidize service Salt Lake Convention and Visitors Bureau Super Pass 14

15 Ski Service Pilot Projected Scope Primary application: account for use of ski passes and resort employee IDs that are accepted as bus passes Secondary application: payments via new contactless credit and debit cards issued by MasterCard, Visa and/or American Express with UTA serving as a merchant. Possible tertiary application: limited use (LU) card vending and revaluing by machine at a limited number of park and ride lots and light rail stations. 15

16 Pilot Projected Scope (2) Contactless (ISO compliant) readers on 40 ski service buses Development of linkage of the readers to the existing UTA smart bus with operator console and on-board computer Data collection regarding boardings including capture of location data via GPS. Utilization of UTA s existing wireless (WIFI) bus to garage communications for uploading and downloading data. 16

17 Pilot Projected Scope (3) Simple back office operations: Accounting for trips taken with passes. Clearance of payment network transactions through regular commercial means Operations of vended LU cards and their valuing and revaluing by a third party contractor Distribution of pass product coded contactless cards through ski resort partners and UTA distribution outlets. Card stock would need UTA chip and anntenna along with resort art, mag-stripes, bar codes, and even RFID. 17

18 Pilot Process Request for Information and Expressions of Interest Discussions at APTA and SCA Submissions due Oct 24 Analyze information Issue RFP(s) Dec 06 Award(s) Jan 06 Resorts begin issuing season passes July 06 Ski service begins Nov 06 18

19 Conclusion We re in this to learn Everything presented is tentative We want integration and interoperability with the broader electronic payments world We are thus looking for partnerships 19

20 Utah Transit Authority Approach to Electronic Fare Collection Craig Roberts Smart Card Alliance 2005 Fall Annual Conference Thursday, October 13,