MTA SMART CARD WILL SUPERSEDE BUS PASSES, TOKENS AND CASH.

Byline: Troy Anderson Staff Writer

One day in the not too distant future, a commuter will be able to board an MTA bus without having to pull money out of a pocket or purse.

Instead, the fare will be deducted automatically from a small, plastic and prepaid Smart Card, eliminating the need for MTA customers to carry cash, tokens or monthly passes. Officials say the Smart Card will not only speed boarding - the high-tech card can be scanned while still in the user's pocket - but also will help reduce fraud because of the difficulty of counterfeiting the device.

The Smart Card initially will be used on MTA buses, then expanded to its subway system.

``The Smart Card, besides making service much more efficient and attracting new riders, is a declaration of war on all individuals and counterfeiting rings who have unfortunately been successful in ripping off the MTA and taxpayers,'' said Gary Wosk, a spokesman with the Metropolitan Transportation Authority.

``The vast majority of our 1.4 million daily boarding customers are honest. The problem is the small percentage who, for whatever reason, feel it is their right to ride for free or very close to it,'' he said. ``The Smart Card will deter most of this deceptive behavior.''

MTA officials estimate that fraud on its bus and rail lines costs the agency $5.5 million to $11 million a year.

In 2000, transit officers handed out 23,551 citations for fare evasion on MTA trains and buses. That compares with 24,397 citations handed out as of Sept. 30 this year.

Officials estimate 90 percent of the citations are issued on the Metro Red Line Subway and other MTA rail lines.

On Dec. 30, the first step will be taken to develop a seamless bus and rail transit service in the county - one that will allow all public transportation providers, including MTA, municipal operators, para-transit and Metrolink - to accept one form of payment.

Montebello Bus Lines will become the first municipal operator in the county to accept MTA transit passes on all its bus lines. In several years, when a universal fare system is fully implemented, the MTA's paper pass, like all other passes in the county, will be be replaced by a regional Smart Card.

``The immediate goal of the MTA is to develop a countywide transit pass as a precursor to a Smart Card,'' MTA Chief Executive Officer Roger Snoble said. ``This will make it much easier for people to transfer from one transit provider to another.''

The Smart Cards, embedded with miniature computer chips, could be programmed to hold more than just cash equivalents for use on transit. Other uses, officials say, include government agencies, schools, convention centers, parking lots and retailers with businesses near transit stops and rail stations.

For example, with the Smart Card, people today pay for soft drinks in vending machines at transit stations in Sydney, Australia, or for clothing in Hong Kong. The Smart Card also provides the opportunity for employer transit benefits to be directly added to the card each month - all the customer has to do is validate a card at a ticket vending machine or a stand-alone validator.

The MTA is scheduled to award a contract for the manufacture and implementation of the Smart Cards in February, with a full year of pilot testing projected to begin in 2003.

``Bus fare boxes will be manufactured first for a pilot program, and rail ticket vending machines will follow a bit thereafter,'' said Jane Matsumoto, the MTA's project manager.

The contract will include the design, manufacture, testing, delivery, installation and support of ticket vending machines, stand-alone validators, validating bus fare boxes, revenue collection equipment, spare parts and associated software.

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Photo:

MTA Deputy CEO John Catoe and Smart Card Project Manager Jane Matsumoto hold samples of MTA-bus smart cards.

Phil McCarten/Staff Photographer