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TRANSACTIONS NEWSLETTER ONLINE
May/June 1999: TransLink®


TransLink®: The Bay Area Transit Industry Sees A Future in Plastic

If you are a typical American, you've become accustomed to using plastic for everything from charging groceries and dinner to checking books out of the library and accessing your health plan and sports club. So why should riding public transit be any different?

In the mid-1990s, the planners at MTC began asking the same question, ultimately deciding that the Bay Area market was ripe for a universal plastic transit ticket -- to be called TransLink® -- that would be a passport to all of the region's bus, rail and ferry systems.

In May, the project got under way in earnest when MTC awarded a 10-year contract to an alliance led by Motorola, Inc. to develop the TransLink® card. While it will look and feel like a credit card, TransLink® actually will be a "smart card."

What sets smart cards apart from their forebears is a thin, sophisticated computer chip sandwiched between the layers of plastic. In the case of TransLink®, the chip will be capable of calculating the appropriate fare no matter what the vehicle type, how far away the destination or which agency is operating the service. The card can function as a multiride ticket book, a stored-value ticket like the one BART uses, a monthly pass good for unlimited rides along the lines of the Muni Fast Pass, or all of the above simultaneously.

As envisioned by MTC (see A Rainbow of Options), this roughly 3.5-inch by 2-inch piece of plastic should do for the Bay Area's complex and diverse public transit network what the euro currency is doing for the European economy, erasing physical and psychological barriers to riding transit across geographic and institutional boundaries.

Based in Schaumburg, Illinois, Motorola, Inc. is a leading provider of wireless telephone, two-way radio, messaging, and satellite communications products and systems. For the TransLink® project, Motorola formed an alliance with ERG Limited of Australia, an experienced supplier of automated fare collection systems. Motorola is providing the card itself, complete with computer chip, as well as the electronic components that read the card. ERG's role will be to assemble the fare-reading equipment, develop transaction-processing software, and set up operator support and customer service systems. Once the program is operating, Motorola will take over and maintain these functions.

"ERG has successfully installed a similar fare-collection system in Hong Kong, and the Motorola-ERG team has recently won contracts to develop smart-card systems for transit in Berlin, Rome and Singapore," said Russell Driver, MTC's manager for the project. Motorola also was recently awarded a fare collection contract by Amtrak.

Six Months, Six Operators
A six-month demonstration of the new card will begin in fall 2000 on selected routes of six local public transit systems: AC Transit, BART, Caltrain, Golden Gate Transit, San Francisco Muni and (Santa Clara) Valley Transportation Authority. Together they offer virtually the full range of modes, including diesel buses, light rail, rapid rail, commuter rail and ferries, which means TransLink® will be tested in nearly every possible environment. Some 5,000 to 10,000 specially selected riders will have a chance to participate in the demonstration. If it is successful, MTC and the transit operators will proceed with full rollout of the system on the region's more than two dozen public transit systems, with installation beginning as early as 2001.

The demonstration's capital and operating costs will be in the neighborhood of $20 million. "It's all paid for with regional funds that MTC has set aside for this purpose," Driver said. The next phase could run $21 million in capital costs and $8 million to $14 million a year in operating expenses. "The greater the card use, the higher the system's operating costs, but the lower the cost per ride," said Driver.

Goodbye Lines, Hello Convenience
TransLink® ushers in a new era of rider convenience by eliminating the need to carry exact change, crisp dollar bills or multiple fare instruments. And since value can be reloaded automatically through links to bank and credit card accounts when the balance drops too low, the days of standing in line to buy tickets and passes also could come to an end.

Once a rider has purchased a TransLink® card from a transit agency, the workplace or a network of 400 participating retailers, or via an 800 number or the Internet, he or she need only flash the "contactless" card in front of an electronic reader located on transit vehicles, in stations or at faregates, and the correct fare will be deducted.

In addition to a computer chip, the TransLink® card also will pack a miniature antenna that will allow it to communicate with nearby fare readers. "You can leave the card in your wallet or purse, which is a good feature for elderly or disabled riders with mobility problems," Driver pointed out.

TransLink® will factor in a host of variables when calculating fares, including different price structures for every transit operator, transfers, routes, length of trip, time of day, and discounts for students and elderly and disabled riders.

In addition to offering an automatic reload option, the TransLink® program will allow riders to add money via credit cards, ATM (debit) cards and cash at fare machines located at transit hubs and participating retailers, and via credit cards and ATM cards at some 200 specially equipped pay phones placed at airports, tourist destinations and other strategic locations.

A central computer system will handle all transactions and distribute payments to transit agencies on a daily basis. And since the system will record every transaction, the agencies will have a comprehensive data base for planning services, marketing and financial accounting.

"The transit operators will pay between 3.5 cents to 5 cents per ride for the entire spectrum of TransLink® services," Driver said. "If they take full advantage of the program, they could spend less on fare collection than they do today." One area in particular where they stand to save is counting and processing cash.

In the future, TransLink® cards may be accepted by parking lots, parking meters, taxis and pay phones, and possibly for retail purchases. Consumers will find smart cards especially handy for situations where exact change is required, Driver pointed out.

Major Milestone for Regional Coordination
TransLink® represents a major step forward in complying with 1996 state legislation that requires Bay Area transit operators, working with MTC, to consolidate and coordinate certain functions, such as fare collection. Even before that legislation, MTC had been pursuing a universal ticket that would smooth intersystem transfers. "There's been an evolution that's brought us to where we are today," said MTC Executive Director Lawrence D. Dahms. "We're on our second technology."

The first round, in the early 1990s, attempted to adapt a BART-style technology for buses, and resulted in a magnetic-stripe ticket that could be used on buses as well as BART. But the effort foundered due to equipment failures and maintenance problems. In the ensuing years, the technology has advanced, and the goals have become more ambitious.

"Since 1995, the program has been designed to present a unified ticket base to the public, not just ease interoperator transfers," said Driver.

For the riding public, the debut of TransLink® won't come a day too soon. In a phone survey of Bay Area registered voters conducted for MTC in 1997, more than three fourths of the respondents ranked a universal transit ticket as tops among desired transportation improvements. The arrival of the smart card also is big news in the eyes of the local media, which gave the story front-page treatment.

In the words of a favorable San Francisco Chronicle editorial, "The best way to increase ridership is to make public transit easy to use. The TransLink® program has promise to bring a sense of order and convenience to the Bay Area's balkanized transit system."

-- Brenda Kahn & Marjorie Blackwell

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