Railroad Forums
Moderator: GirlOnTheTrain
ericware wrote:When is path going all metrocard. I know that they are getting ready to test SmartLink at the WTC.I had no idea that there were even plans to make PATH all-Metrocard. Where did you hear this? I highly doubt this will happen.
NIMBYkiller wrote:They have Metrocard at Hoboken. I think at WTC too.They do have metrocard/quickcard machines at WTC but not yet at Hoboken. I was told by a PATH agent at WTC on opening day that they would be phasing metrocard readers in by the end of 2004.
F40 wrote:Will the current QuickCard discounts be applicable to fares paid with MetroCard?The simple answer is no.
Replace the MetroCard?
BY JOSHUA ROBIN
Staff Writer
October 5, 2004, 6:16 PM EDT
Wipe out the swipe?
Cards that are waved, not swiped, are now being considered by the MTA for use at subway turnstiles and bus fareboxes.
Touted as a faster alternative to the MetroCard, the new technology, a card or key ring embedded with a microchip, is similar to E-Z Pass or Mobil Speedpass readers. PATH passengers will start using a similar system beginning in April.
....
The MTA last month put aside $43.9 million in capital funds to implement the system. But Henderson and other advocates fear that the MTA might never tap into that money because officials have expressed only tepid support. The MTA has known about the cards for at least seven years, officials said.
Installing the system would cost only $10 million, said Beverly Dolinsky, executive director of the advisory council. That does not include costlier software upgrades of $80 million, she said.
An MTA spokesman, Tom Kelly, would only say that the authority is "exploring the technology."
The chip in the cards contain an antenna that is powerful enough to be read through clothing and up to a foot away – powerful enough to be read through a purse, said Jae Lande, a spokeswoman for Cubic Corp., a San Diego-based company that makes Smart Cards and MetroCards.
Advocates also believe that riders will be able to use Smart Cards on both subways and commuter rails. It was unclear, though, how fares would be collected on the rails, where fares are based on distances and there are no turnstiles.
In addition to the PATH, transit systems in Chicago, Washington, D.C. and San Francisco use Smart Card technology. Dolinsky hopes that New York is next. "We think that transit users should have the same benefits as everyone else," she said.
Copyright © 2004, Newsday, Inc.
