The Evolution of TransLink : Past, Present, and Future

Transcription

1 The Evolution of TransLink : Past, Present, and Future Trevor Findley, Booz Allen Hamilton Smart Card Alliance Payments Summit, Salt Lake City February 23, 2010

2 TransLink is a smart card fare collection system that supports seamless travel between Bay Area transit agencies Vision for a universal fare media for the Bay Area began in the 1980s Original business case was developed in the mid-nineties based on magnetic card technology Choice of technology moved to a smart card in the late nineties Request for Proposal for a smart card system was released in 1998 Notice to Proceed was issued to Motorola/ERG in 1999 Pilot program was conducted 2003 First agency declared revenue ready in 2006 Cubic Transportation Systems took over the TransLink contract from Motorola/ERG in

3 TransLink is one of the first truly regional smart card systems to be implemented in the United States Being deployed to 26 Bay Area transit agencies MTC Managed by the TransLink Consortium made up of MTC and representatives from transit operators No lead agency Supports fare structures, transit products, and transfer policies adopted by each agency All agencies can sell any other agency s fare products AC Transit Small Operators Shared float account holds all E-Cash funds loaded on patron cards until fare payment BART TransLink Management Group Golden Gate System performs central clearing and settlement between all participants on a daily basis SamTrans Caltrain SFMTA VTA 3

4 The system is unique in the level of sophistication used to enforce each individual operator s business rules Multimodal Travel Bus / Trolley Bus Light Rail / Cable Car Commuter / Heavy Rail Ferries Payment Configuration Flat Fare (Single Tag) Distance-Based (Dual Tag Pay on Exit) Zone-Based (Dual Tag Max Fare on Entry) Fare Policy Implementation 4,000 Unique Fares 100 Fare Products 12,000 Recognized Transfer Combinations Best Fare Scheme (E-Cash Accumulator) 4

5 TransLink is currently enabled on the five major transit operators serving San Francisco and continues to grow 60,000 Daily TransLink Ridership 50,000 40,000 30,000 20,000 10,000 0 Nov 06 Golden Gate Transit and AC Transit Revenue Ready Jul 08 Caltrain Revenue Sep 08 SFMTA Revenue May 09 BART Revenue Ready Ready Ready Apr & May 10 SamTrans & VTA Planned Revenue Ready 5

6 Continued availability of paper-based fare products presents one of the greatest obstacles to wider adoption by the public Most fare products are currently available on both TransLink and in paper form A recently approved MTC resolution requires that participating operators phase out remaining paper-based products Each agency has submitted a fare media transition plan outlining a process to move late adopters to TransLink A large-scale, coordinated effort will be launched to get cards in the hands of patrons and train them on their use A special emphasis is being placed on attracting youth and senior patrons, which currently make up only a small part of the active card population 6

7 Several agencies are taking further steps to eliminate the paper tickets and transfers used by infrequent riders SFMTA and Golden Gate Ferry are in the process of developing limited use smart card programs Both agencies are planning to deploy TVMs capable of dispensing and reloading both standard and limited use TransLink cards SFMTA will also be replacing their magnetic stripe-based turnstiles with TransLink -only fare gates The programs are being designed to encourage patron use of the standard TransLink card Only single-ride and round-trip pproducts will be offered on the limited use tickets No inter-operator transfers will be granted Tickets will be set to expire in a short timeframe 7

8 Other initiatives are looking at ways to expand the use of TransLink beyond transit There is currently a parking pilot under development for SFMTA garages Readers will be installed in garages to deduct parking fees from TransLink E-Cash A new transit-only purse will be created on the card to hold pre-tax transit funds Pre-tax parking will not initially be supported Other areas under consideration include Partnerships within the bank card industry Cell phone/nfc integration Migration of student IDs from local universities 8

9 The region is also in the process of transitioning from a dualinterface to a contactless-only smart card The transition is complex Retrofit of current contact-based distribution devices with a contactless reader Migration i of the TransLink card application i Ordering and distribution of new cards But the new card will offer a number of advantages Lower cost per card Wider Availability: Obsolete Motorola Chip NXP MIFARE DESFire Future Upgrade Path: Java-based SmartMX (with DESFire emulator) Launch of the new card will coincide with a major marketing campaign for TransLink 9

10 Thank You Contact Information: Trevor Findley, Booz Allen Hamilton (San Francisco) Phone: (415) , 10