Summary

This project designs a policy framework for a statewide transit smart card fare system. Smart cards have the potential to improve transit services, reduce costs and allow the implementation of flexible fare policies. Additionally, smart card systems, when implemented on a common platform, can allow transit riders to use one fare card with multiple operators - essentially, offering a seamless fare payment system. Because of their numerous advantages, smart cards are expected to soon become a technological standard for modern public transportation. The problem is, however, that as transit agencies move forward with adoption and implementation, California runs the risk of having non-compatible systems for regional transit

The majority of obstacles to forming interoperable smart card system are policy-oriented, and this project seeks to examine the obstacles to forming an inter-modal, inter-operator transit smart card system. Specifically, we address four problems: weak decision-making structures between agencies, uncertainty over institutional partners' responsibility regarding performance criteria and protocols, administrative problems with revenue sharing between transit operators, and the inflexibility of previous smart card systems across regions and jurisdictions.

The products of this research will include guidebooks for public officials and transit managers outlining the best practices for integrating smart card use into existing transit services, policy recommendations for developing interoperable smart card systems, reviews of currents smart card use including case studies of interoperable transit fare cards, and strategies for sharing costs and revenues between agencies; a website and workshop will accompany these guidebooks.

Related PATH Articles/Journals

Forthcoming: Allison Yoh, Hiroyuki Iseki, and Brian D. Taylor, "Smart Cards, Slow Deployment: Findings from Interviews with U.S. Transit Agencies."

Hiroyuki Iseki, Allison Yoh, and Brian D. Taylor. "Survey on Status of Knowledge and Interest in Smart Card Fare Collection Systems Among U.S. Transit Agencies" (UCB-ITS-PRR-2006-12). 01 June 2006.

Allison Yoh, Hiroyuki Iseki, Brian D. Taylor, and David A. King, "Institutional Issues and Arrangements in Interoperable Transit Smart Card Systems: A Review of the Literature on California, United States, and International Systems," (UCB-ITS-PWP-2006-02). 01 March 2006.