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Port Authority set to get smarter with new technology [The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review](Pittsburgh Tribune-Review (PA) Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) Nov. 28--Port Authority wants its new fare collection system to be smarter than those bigger cities such as San Francisco or Chicago use. Officials outlined plans to have the microchip-embedded "smart cards" pay for nearly every mode of transportation: fares on the bus, T and other transit agencies' buses; parking in special lots and garages; and renting bikes. But few of the dozens of larger cities using variations of the smart-card technology have tried combining those functions. "When we looked at smart cards, we asked, 'How do we leverage this investment in transportation to make a smarter network in Pittsburgh?' " said authority CEO Steve Bland. "If we have a combined card for transit and parking, it opens up options." The authority used $33 million in federal money remaining from construction of the West Busway to make the smart card system an option for paying fares, making transfers and using passes. It is seeking $10.9 million in federal stimulus money so the same cards could pay for rides on nine proposed "rapid bus" routes, metered parking at specially equipped garages in Oakland and Downtown, and bike rentals at 70 proposed bike-sharing stations near major transit stops. Bland said some functions could be phased in as money and partner organizations become available. "It's ambitious, but it's certainly doable," said Randy Vanderhoof, executive director of Smart Card Alliance, a national lobbying group for the technology. "The more partners included in a system like this, the more complex the business agreements and getting them all in line becomes." The toughest part of starting smart card networks is bringing in transit agencies or third parties who will accept the cards, since the computer technology and business agreements must be able to track which payments go to each participant, Vanderhoof said. The TransLink smart card started in 2002 to work on six transit agencies in the San Francisco Bay region was hobbled in part by difficulties with installing hardware and writing software to recognize different fare structures and passes, said John Goodwin, spokesman for the Metropolitan Transportation Commission. "Everybody loves TransLink, but nobody loves how long it's taken," Goodwin said. "Had it been an 'e-cash' system only, it would have been done in no time ... but everyone's bells and whistles had to be included." Cash fares will be accepted once Port Authority's smart cards are in use, but the authority will transfer its weekly, monthly and yearly passes to specially coded cards, said spokesman Jim Ritchie. The Washington Metropolitan Transit Authority, which runs D.C.'s Metro trains and buses, has used its SmarTrip cards since 2007 for fare payments, but is just now planning how to change its weekly passes to the cards, said spokeswoman Angela Gates. People can use the card to pay for parking at Metro-owned commuter lots and garages, but it isn't accepted at bike-sharing stations. Chicago recently offered a variation of its Chicago Card that can be used with I-Go, a car-sharing service, and is seeking ways that the cards could be used at retailers, said spokeswoman Wanda Taylor. Although the Chicago Card Plus can be used as a 30-day pass, the transit authority has not done away with its other multi-day passes, she said. Crews will install fare boxes capable of reading cards on Port Authority buses over the next few months, and University of Pittsburgh students will test the system in spring. The government is expected to announce whether Port Authority will get stimulus money for the rapid bus, parking and bike-sharing projects in January. To see more of The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/. Copyright (c) 2009, The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services. For reprints, email [email protected], call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA. |