Re: Too many "Transit Authorities"?
Author: TAP THIS
Date: 05-14-2019 - 11:33
cell phone NFC technology should be included to those TAP CARDS like Clipper...
including to its trains, TVMs and Validators... Clipper cards should work on any system and reloadable options with cash as well as connected to a bank account or credit card options... making it inclusive.
Time to make Clipper accepted everywhere..
it's sort of happening Wrote:
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> For political and legal reasons, it's unlikely
> that we'll ever get rid of the gaggle of transit
> agencies we have in CA. There may be some
> consolidation, but the legal setup supports the
> politics (surprise!) of local control. That said,
> there's some glimmer of hope in the form of
> regional fare cards and apps.
>
> Major metros have bought into the fare card (and
> sometimes app) idea. It's not wonderful for
> occasional users (have to get the card, set up the
> account which is almost always online-only, reload
> it which is most easily done if you have a bank
> account which not everybody does, some places
> charge a fee for the card or for non-usage or
> simply expire it an take any leftover value after
> a while), and local transit agencies have to agree
> to join (not everybody in the Bay Area has joined
> Clipper, for instance), but it does make riding
> across multiple transit agencies more convenient.
>
> The problem with is is No Standards. The system in
> any given area works only in that area, so if you
> have a long commute (say, Sacramento to the Bay
> Area or San Bernardino to LA) or other travel
> (say, Bay Area to LA), you have to get multiple
> cards. A specific failing for CA is that the cards
> also don't work on most commuter trains or the
> state Amtrak trains.
>
> So there's considerable room for improvement, but
> the fare card thing can bring a measure of sanity
> to the situation.