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| FOCUS ON TECHNOLOGY |
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| SamTrans Fareboxes Going High Tech This Spring |
| BY TASHA BARTHOLOMEW, Public Information Specialist, San Mateo County Transit District San Mateo, CA |
Oftentimes, bus riders don’t give a second thought to the machine that takes their fare. It is just like a well-known friend that allows them to get where they need to go. But at the San Mateo County Transit District, where SamTrans provides fixed-route bus and paratransit service throughout San Mateo County and into parts of San Francisco and Palo Alto, this 24-year-old standard is about to be replaced with a new high-tech model.
 The GFI Odyssey fareboxes will begin appearing on the entire fleet of nearly 350 SamTrans buses this spring. The state-of-the-art new fareboxes have innovative features, such as the capability for operators to issue change cards and sell Day Passes, which were not previously available on the existing fareboxes. They can also automatically tally and process coins and bills, and will allow SamTrans to use magnetic tickets.
For the first time, SamTrans will have real-time financial information about the revenue being generated by the new fareboxes, with detailed descriptions of the types of customers the transit agency is serving, such as youth, seniors and eligible discount patrons. “The new fareboxes also add a new level of certainty, security and information-reporting to SamTrans,” said Project Manager Roi Kingon, adding: “As we become more sophisticated using the new bus fare collection system, we hope to expand the types of analysis and reporting to help make SamTrans operations more efficient and cost-effective. The new fareboxes will be beneficial in every aspect—from passenger to the bus operator to the organization.”
More New Features
Riders also will notice a couple of new features that will be used in the near future: a “dip” and a “slide.” Local-ride one-way tickets, purchased by social service agencies, will be the first magnetic tickets introduced and will require customers to “dip” the magnetic tickets into a slot on the top left side of the farebox to activate it. SamTrans plans to introduce a magnetic Day Pass, possibly by late 2011, that customers can “slide” or swipe through a diagonal slot located at the top right of the farebox.
While Monthly Pass customers will continue to flash their paper pass for the bus operator, the paper version of this pass will be replaced by the ClipperSM card at the end of 2011. ClipperSM, an easy-to-use, all-in-one, reloadable regional transit card, is accepted on SamTrans as well as other San Francisco Bay Area transit agencies, including AC Transit, BART, Caltrain, Golden Gate Ferry, and Muni.
A printed “how-to guide” will be provided on buses and a “how-to video” will be posted on the SamTrans website, www.samtrans.com, before the new fareboxes are introduced.
Note: The San Mateo County Transit District is the administrative body for the principal public transit and transportation programs in San Mateo County: SamTrans bus service including Redi-Wheels paratransit service, Caltrain commuter rail and the San Mateo County Transportation Authority. Caltrain and the TA have contracted with the Transit District to serve as their managing agency, under the direction of their independent board of directors.
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