Smart Card Only

[MyKatIsGoing]

I saw this last Friday night at the turnstiles on the west side of 14th St. Does this mean the smart card (or joint fare system) will be arriving soon? Haven't seen it at Hoboken or Grove so far.

[JLo]

Your picture is not coming up. If you are talking about a metrocard accepting machine on PATH, it is already in place at WTC and Newark.

[arrow]

Here is the picture:

http://www.njroads.net/railroadnet/smart.JPG

I got it to work by replacing the .jpg with .JPG or replacing the .JPG with .jpg (either way works) when I got the "Forbidden" message, seems to work after that for some reason.

The screen is yellow and says "SMART CARD ONLY"

Like I said in another thread, I think they will get rid of QuickCard when they roll out the Smart Cards. It will be Metrocard or SmartCard only when it's finished. I am looking forward to them starting this up..should be soon now!

And as far as I know, the Smart Card will not be integrated whatsoever with the MTA, they will still have Metrocard only. They've said that they intend to watch the PATH's system and if it is a success, they will consider using it for themselves as well.

[Allan]

PATH is rolling out the smart card which they will call SmartLink during the early part of 2006 (probably around April) although I have heard that there will be live testing at the beginning of the year by those who pay half fare.

Initially you will only be able to put money on the card in special machines (including those MVMs that have the SmartLink port on the front - like the ones at the WTC). Later on you be able to set up an account similar to what they have on EZ-Pass which will "recharge" your card when the balance gets to a preset level. This will also include registering the card so it can be replaced if lost or stolen.

Eventually the QuickCard will get phased out - except maybe for single ride/round trip cards. It should take less time than it took the MTA to phase out the token.

See:

http://www.pathrail.com/path/June_PATHWays_v5.pdf

[Allan]

Your picture is not coming up. If you are talking about a metrocard accepting machine on PATH, it is already in place at WTC and Newark.

All PATH turnstiles accept the MetroCard.

[JLo]

Thanks. I hadn't realized they had finished replacing all the turnstiles at all the stations.

[arrow]

I saw that screen tonight at 14th St also.

[Luci S]

A few weeks ago, when I was trying to buy my second or so card, I needed the help of a PATH employee and she told me to not buy too many trips, because from 1 Jan. they were going to drop the current cards. It sounds strange, I know, esp. when you read expiration dates on the new bought cards, but it sounded definitely. She also said that there will be no 20-trips deal or monthly-pass, just a fixed fare - if I would be told that a few days before, I wouldn't move near a PATH station.

[arrow]

Well what the PATH rep told you was incorrect then. They are NOT going to void all the QuickCards that are out there, and I am almost positive that the same deals will be there on the SmartCard as they are on the QuickCard. Perhaps they are going to stop selling old QuickCards in favor of the SmartCard, but they will absolutely not void out the trips you have remaining on your old QuickCards.

[Allan]

Quite frankly most of the PATH reps (the red jacketed ones) are not the brightest stars in the sky. I see some of them standing near the turnstiles and I wonder - did someone forget to press the "on" button.

If you go to the link I put an my posting above and then go to the 2nd page of the PATH newsletter you will see that the SmartLink card will allow for the same trips as the QuickCard (11, 20 and 40).

The QuickCard will be phased out - eventually.