U.S. Federal Agency Opens Procurement Program to Fare Validator Suppliers
Transit agencies in the U.S. could be able to buy fare validators through a federal government procurement program administered by the U.S. General Services Administration, as part of an initiative by the California Integrated Travel Project, or Cal-ITP.
Some Small and Mid-Tier U.S. Transit Agencies Join for Group Procurement of Fare Systems: an Emerging Trend?
Some groups of small and medium-sized transit agencies in the U.S. are looking to procure new fare or ticketing systems, hoping to get a better deal from vendors than the agencies could on their own.
Special Report: Despite Industry Push, Few Transit Agencies Rolling Out ‘Closed-Loop EMV’ So Far
Transit agency Storstockholms Lokaltrafik, or SL, in Stockholm launched what is believed to be the industry’s first rollout of white-label EMV cards for its closed-loop customers in September 2021. To date it has issued around 1.5 million cards, which customers use frequently.
Special Report: Visa’s Marketing Message on Open-Loop Projects–Does It Add Up?
Open-loop payments is perhaps the hottest fare-payments technology around today. But getting reliable estimates on just how large the open-loop footprint is has proved to be difficult.
In-Depth: Canadian Transit Agencies See Low Adoption of Open-Loop Payments
Despite a high-profile launch recently of domestic debit card acceptance in Canada and more open-loop rollouts there, Canadian transit agencies say they have no plans to promote open-loop payments over their close-loop cards.
Think Tank: Widespread Move to Open-Loop Payments in U.S. Remains ‘Elusive;’ High Interchange Partly to Blame
Open-loop payments can improve the customer experience, helping transit agencies to win back customers in a post-pandemic world, while also reducing cash-handling costs and speeding up boarding times, according to a new report from the Brookings Institution, a major think tank in the U.S.
U.S. Transit Agency with Strong Closed-Loop Program Wants More Riders to Use Open Loop
U.S. transit agency TriMet of Portland, Ore., introduced open-loop payments at the same time it launched its contactless closed-loop Hop Fastpass card, in July 2017. But it promoted Hop much more than open loop for years, and not surprisingly, the closed-loop card makes up the vast majority of electronic transactions for the agency.
Transport for London Launches Procurement of Major Fare-Collection Contract
Transport for London yesterday launched its much-anticipated call for tenders to find the next vendor to run its high-profile fare-collection system–with the so-called “Project Proteus” expected to be one of the most expensive and complex fare-system contracts now in play globally.
Small U.S. Transit Agency has Big Ambition to Eliminate Cash
Despite significant costs for handling cash, very few transit agencies in the U.S. have eliminated cash from their fare-collection systems. But the head of one small bus agency in South Carolina, which recently launched open-loop payments, says he plans to try.
New York’s MTA Says OMNY Rollout Falls Further Behind Schedule; Cites Poor Vendor Quality Control, Other Issues
Officials with New York’s Metropolitan Transportation Authority this week said the rollout of its OMNY fare-collection system has fallen further behind schedule and isn’t expected to see “substantial completion” until the fourth quarter of 2025–nearly two and a half years later than Cubic Transportation Systems, the system integrator on the project, had originally promised.