metro to introduce tap passes on january 25th
Looking for information on Downtown LA?
Angelenic is the essential news resource for those living, working and visiting Downtown Los Angeles. Check out our 
We all knew it was coming. A major step in the Metropolitan Transit Authority's controversial master plan for automated fare collection systems, Transit Access Passes (or simply TAP cards) will go on sale January 25th, 2008.
According to TAP info brochures now available at Metro ticket counters: "Soon we’ll be replacing your old paper pass with the new Transit Access Pass: TAP! It’s a durable plastic card you can use month after month.”
Metro states that the new $80 million TAP card system is superior to the current paper ticket system because they’re “Smart, Simple and Secure,” and are durable enough to last for three years of use. They will also act as refillable “debit cards” for frequent users and give monthly riders unlimited access for the same flat monthly fee.
Another big part of Metro’s hype is “the ease of connecting services… simply tap when you board.” All bus and rail operated by Metro are now equipped to accept TAP, and over the next two years all municipal lines in LA County will accept them as well. Until then, Metro-to-Muni connections will require the proper cash fares or paper transfers.
From what we gather, TAP cards will be an option for frequent riders in addition to the current per-trip paper tickets, but will replace paper Metro monthly passes altogether.
Which leads into my first question: how does this new electronic system better serve monthly riders? After all, what’s more convenient than not having to “tap” at all? Well, the new TAP system is obviously not all about enhanced convenience, as the MTA is trying to have us believe.
As last week’s LA Weekly article touched on, the MTA wants to start collecting data on its passengers. This fact is glaringly clear where MTA states on its info brochure that all monthly riders will be required to “tap” upon entry to rail stations, and if they fail to do so, can be cited for fare evasion!
How will they know? Fare inspectors will now carry card readers to detect whether a rider has tapped in or not.
My second question relates to the TAP card system’s effect on buses. Currently, when a large group of people board buses there are two lines: one to the right for cash fares and a second to the left for pass holders to flash-and-go. Under the new TAP system, will all riders be required stand in the same line in order to reach the TAP target? This could potentially slow down bus operations during peak hours.
As we’ve said before, this all seems to be a ruse to phase in distance-based fares for rail travel. After all, you don’t spend total of $110 million (considering the additional $30 million for turnstiles) to make things a little more “smart, simple and secure” when there’s no problem with the ticketing system in the first place.
-MTA Turnstiles May Have a Hidden Agenda
-New Metro Station Monitors to Show Train Schedules
-Metro Passes No Longer Valid on Dash
-Los Angeles Subway Turnstiles? Yes, Please!
-7th/Metro Station’s New Ad Blitz
Check out these related posts:
20 comments
Here we go again with the conspiracy theories…
It’s a ruse! A hidden agenda! A move to track our movements!
It’s none of the above. It’s the maturation of LA’s mass transit into a seamless, distance-based system that pretty much follows the direction all the world’s major cities are headed.
Claiming that the TAP system is going to “require” monthly pass holders to stand in the same line as individual fare-payers is nonsense. The pass holders will reach through the line and “tap” their card just as they flash it now. And “requiring” pass holders to tap their cards on entering a station isn’t unfair - it’s normal.
You almost have to laugh at the convoluted and baseless complaints being registered on the introduction of this program. I mean, can you IMAGINE a more mean-spirited, more vile mass transit managment system than one that requires you to prove you’ve paid your fare? Or one that employs sinister Fare Inspectors to actually check that you’ve paid your fare? Or one that wants to track ridership on its trains or buses and determine the busiest routes, the busiest stations, origination/destination of its riders or other secret data?
Metro hype? Get real. Our biggest challenge is how and where to find the money to expand the present system - not dig for conspiracy theories on the TAP system.
Bruce, we’re fine with distance-based fares. We’re fine with automated fare collection. But aside from you, us, and a few other transit sites, no one’s been talking about distance-based fares being the reason behind TAP and turnstiles.
Not Metro, either.
They spent $80 million on TAP, and the SOLE reason they state on their literature is that it will be more simple. I didn’t realize the system we had now was so incredibly complex.
It’s a ruse in the sense that Metro hasn’t been forthright with the taxpaying public. If they’re going for distance-based fares, why not just say so? Otherwise they look even more incompetent because they’ve spent so much money for so little benefit.
No one’s describing conspiracy theories, I’m just being critical of the justifications they’re using to introduce these changes. I fully support TAP, distance-based fares and the turnstiles. And it’s all hype because its exaggerated publicity.
Alossi: Agreed. It would be nice if Metro put it all out there. It certainly would be refreshing, especially to those of us who track these things and care about these things.
But again, let’s get real. With few exceptions I can’t think of a mass transit system (or other municipal entity, for that matter) whose publicists ‘put it all out there.’ I believe they move step-by-step, test the waters, move another step, test again. No one wants to go out on the limb and proclaim the long-range visions from fear that they’ll create even more confusion or conflicts. So, they feed us the little bits of information and present it in upbeat, “isn’t mass transit wonderful,” “it’s all about you” ways.
I’m not supporting that route, but I believe that’s the reality.
But about the complexity of LA’s system: It IS complex, if nothing other than the distances and numbers of riders using local/rapid/commuter buses, light rail, subway, commuter trains, freeways, bikeways and surface streets over a huge multi-county area. I think we tend to look at just the 17 miles of subway and often forget that many commuters don’t begin or end their travel underground. It all ties in to an enormous system whose overall complexity demands an overall system of tracking users’ movements.
If I can travel this enormous system by pre-paying for a reusable card, flash it before an unmanned device, and quickly move onto a bus or train, then its use IS simple.
What’s more, if the system can record when and where that user boarded, if and when that user transferred, how often and on what days the travel occurs, then (it is my hope!) Metro can more efficiently run their system.
The current system cannot do this but I really don’t expect Metro’s print ads or publicity hype to outline all the ins and outs of their system any more than I expect Ralph’s to outline that their real reason for pushing their Ralphs card is to track my buying habits.
My guess is they all try to sell the sizzle and not the steak. And so it goes…
Stephen Friday…. Agreed, as well. I don’t like Metro saying one thing and doing another. But hype and publicity is not new to transit systems. All I’m saying is that I believe it’s much ado about little nothing. There are much bigger fish to fry on the transit issue.
Im not sure if metro is going in the right direction or not but I am glad to see that they are starting to add turnstiles to regain lost revenue. Every time I ride the metro trains I realise how easy it is to just walk in and get in the train. I suppose they are trying to tie up all the loose ends within their rail system and I commend the MTA for doing so.
I love seeing the TAP card system finally being implemented but we don’t need faregates to fully implement them and if we do need them they need to be installed in only at the busiest Subway AND Light Rail stations that have a lot of usability.
In fact we can impose a distance or zone based fare system on our rail and rapid buses already all they have to do is adjust it for the July 2009 fare increases and walla, problem solved! Vancouver, San Diego, Portland and Denver create such a system and their farebox recovery on their rail is very good.
Bruce, you just begin to scratch the surface of the TAP card’s complexity in installation.
You know how many different bus systems there are in L.A. County besides Metro? About four dozen. Some are large, such as Santa Monica and Long Beach, but a lot are small pissant local shuttles.
The sheer number of bus systems in L.A. County make implementing a system very hard. There are day passes, interagency transfers and policies regulating their acceptance. There are hundreds of possible scenarios that the machines must be trained to understand.
We’ve been promised this system for the better part of a decade, and there will still be a lot of bugs when the passes come online in February.
And as a veteran rider, I don’t see much benefit in using TAP, especially not the debit cards. I can take cash that’s good anywhere and convert it into money that’s only good for riding Metro. The only way such a system would work is out of necessity, where a TAP card would be the only way to pay for a ride. On fare barrier systems cash must be converted into a medium that allows entry, such as a token or stored-value card.
As for fare barriers being more effective than proof-of-payment systems, most passengers are honest on either system and the effectiveness of either collection method is so similar that it is often too expensive to switch.
The use of TAP might lead to more operating efficiencies. Metro already gathers data now through human ride-checks and algorithms to sample movements of large numbers of people. It might reduce the number of ride checkers, saving on overhead. However, efficiency means something different to the agency.
Whenever Metro has to become efficient, it looks for bus services to eliminate. Metro doesn’t make a profit, and 80 percent of its operations are subsidized. Those subsidies are not blank checks, either. They must be spent on specified budget items.
So it must cut losses where it can. It looks to reduce or eliminate services to reduce losses or shift resources to productive services. Say you have a line that runs hourly, and not too many people are taking it. The people riding it would be justifiably upset if their route was proposed for cancellation, but Metro can either reduce service and thereby reduce losses or shift resources to another line where people are using the bus.
When you say efficiency, keep in mind that it means cutting service sometime down the road.
Wad,
I think we could list the world’s public mass transit systems whose operations are profitable between these two brackets: [………..].
So, whereas an argument could be made regarding the complexities of setting up the TAP system in a metropolitan area with so many bus systems, an equally strong argument could be made that this is precisely WHY such a program should be installed…the sooner the better.
Listen, I’m not saying that MTA is faultless. But with limited resources they have to get smart with their money. Adding more buses to already clogged streets isn’t the lone solution anymore than subways are our city’s only salvation. Introducing the TAP system sounds totally logical to me and LA is hardly the first city to implement such a system. I say let’s do it.
Regarding the “efficiency” issue. Yep, that word means different things to every taxpayers. Let’s, for a moment, flip around your very real scenerio about bus riders worried that the MTA will cut their thinly-traveled bus line for reasons of ‘efficiency’. Everyday, people all over the city see almost-empty buses running along those thinly-traveled lines and wonder, “Why are my transportation taxes being wasted on all these bus line nobody rides?”
There is no single solution. Everybody has an idea. Each idea costs money. Nobody wants anything cut. Everybody complains. Everybody has a point. Nothing gets done. Does it have to be this way?
Hey, don’t speak for me.
I am NOT “Fine” with distance based fares. NOT AT ALL.
My opposition is not about to change the MTA’s $100 million plan.
But I WILL be registering my objections.
You’re right. Holding a monthly pass is easier than “TAPing” a card. You just keep the damn thing in your wallet and never take it out while using MetroRail, unless a fare inspector happens by. That’s the easiest possible system for the passengers! Sometimes I don’t even have to show my pass on the bus if I’m boarding an artic on one of the Metro Rapid lines. I just walk in the back door. Totally legal, and much easier.
Hey, that even makes life easier for the bus drivers!
And regarding conspiracy theories, all “conspiracy” means is to breathe together. That is, all it means that the MTA is working hard to introduce TAP cards and distance based fares. There’s no secret about it! And by definition, yes, it is a CONSPIRACY by the MTA.
And I, for one, don’t want anything to do with it.
Occam’s Razor, people: the easier the better. Paper passes are easier. TAP cards are less convenient.
Thank you Scott! Well put.
I will not be purchasing the TAP.
I bought a TAP pass and diligently read the brochure that came with it, so I’ve been dutifully tapping my pass for the past month while seeing only one or two others per day actually tap a pass on my red line commute. How many people are tapping on the bus, I cannot tell — I tap and then move on, feeling like a fool for having to excuse myself as I shove my arm in front of someone paying a cash fare so I can tap. (I have a long commute which includes tapping 6 times daily and waiting for passengers to get on a pretty crammed bus — the 920 on Wilshire, usually full on the first stop.)
Today, for the first time, I encountered fare checkers while emerging at Wilshire/Vermont station. The woman in front of me had not tapped her pass, so the checker informed her that she needs to tap or she will be fined. She was shocked (she hadn’t read her brochure, I’m guessing), so I let her know she could also buy an EZ transit pass — it costs a bit more but will then allow her to just show her pass. The fare checker overheard and, sounding annoyed, hollered after us that “they plan on moving those over to the TAP system as well.”
I’m fuming again. I recognize the value of data collection — if that is even truly a purpose of the TAP cards — but that someone might be fined for using metro when they have a monthly pass is nonsense. Sure, it may be the most obvious incentive for tapping, but it’s still so ridiculous.
Oh, and by the way, fare checkers having to check TAP cards most definitely slows them down. Bus passengers having to tap TAP cards most definitely slows them down.
Suffice to say, I’ll be purchasing an EZ Transit Pass next month so I don’t have to TAP. Here’s hoping they don’t make the TAP move for another few years.
Just what we like customers were looking for it’s very easy to use and to add balance to it. “Keep Up the good work”
It is non-sense to save money in theory without considering saving resource on hiring petrol.
1. It is ridiculous to call TAP machine a gate since it doesn’t have any fence to block out non-paying sneaker.
2. Removing / less fare petrol meaning encouraging more sneakers and free riders.
3. If TAP system means a new way to pay the fare, it would be same if they don’t implement it - same without it - just a new way to pay and not to pay.
4. This can mean more fare hike since more people can get free ride without paying (maybe it really depends on situation but this logic should be true). They better work on math.
They better add fence and allow people to pass if they pay like system in Taiwan. Check it out. Their transit is much more advance - zero tolerance.
Bruce:
You stated:
“I think we could list the world’s public mass transit systems whose operations are profitable between these two brackets: [………..].”
There are plenty of mass transit systems in Asia that are privately owned and operated and are quite profitable business ventures… most Japanese railways, MTR in Hong Kong, Delhi metro, etc. I believe the new commuter rail system being built in Mexico City is also going to be a concession to a private operator, who I assume will make money on it.
Personally I can’t wait to get a TAP card. As I understand it, you’ll be able to pay for it and keep track of your balance online. Then you can just walk through, tap your card and go. That means no more waiting behind clueless tourists at the ticket machine at Universal Station while my train wizzes by.
Jones, even easier than a TAP card was the monthly paper pass. Not only did you avoid the ticket machines but there was no keeping track of a balance or pulling the card out to “tap.”
It was the ultimate ease.
Is it more convenient to use than an EZ pass??? Obviously, no. But it’s not that hard.
More important to me: it’s easier to buy/pay for. As a frequent bus rider, it was a real pain to have to trek to the supermarket once a month after work just to buy a pass. Now I just go online and get a new one.
you guys are trying to make things a lot more complex than they are. So what if you have to spend an extra second to tap a stupid pass?? You make it seem like thats going to make the world end for you. I’m sure that la is trying to figure out ways right now to make it easier for people to use their tap passes on busses, etc. And oh hey guess what?? You can register your tap card so let’s say you wallet gets stolen guess who won’t have to pay to get an entirely new month pass and who doesnt? And as for having to take it out of your wallet… Theres this senior citizen that takes the same bus as me for about two months now.. He put the pass in the back of his wallet so he just takes his wallet out and taps in and goes on like nothing. I’m excited to see how theyre going to use the data they’ve collected to make the busiest routes less of a hassle to ride.
As for the tap I’m really stoked about how I dont have to bust a mission when I’m super busy to buy a new month pass. I can go online or refill it when I’m about to take a train and go on about my business.
Also, these cards are a lot harder to make fake ones of, which is probably the biggest issue dealing with metros revenue loss.
Theyre trying to make our lives easier as well as theirs. Dont knock it until you try it. I’m sure its an inconvience at first, but once you get used to it im sure you will be thanking them.
I was hoping that the TAP cards would be like the Oyster Card in London. A card linked to some bank or credit account that would automatically debit your card as you tapped in and out, so that you’d be paying ONLY the correct fare for whatever distance and options you used in the system without having to figure it out in advance or buy an expensive comprehensive time passed pass. The estimate is that with the occasionally longer travel that londoners do that it that fare collection has increased, but only appropriate to someone’s ridership. It has been extremely popular in a city that has a large amount of it’s citizens using transit, but they also have a turnstile system in place that of course will only let you through if you have paid. London tends to be more paranoid than LA in terms of terrorism, too.
But the TAP card is not that, it’s a monthly pass that you can to tap, which is stupid. I only have one because my office pays for it (in lieu of parking) but it would be more cost effective for me to just buy single passes otherwise.
Do i care if Metro knows I’m traveling from NoHo to Downtown 4 days a week? Not really, except to say I hope it leads to improved services regionally.
If the TAP cards were metered on distance and the fares were collected individually so I didn’t have to refill it, but rather it just debited what was necessary AND if this was coupled with a really turnstile system that enforced fare usage, then I’d be widely about it, but right now it is an alternative to a monthly pass i can refill online and have my office reimburse me for.
Sometimes it seems like fore such a big city with need for transit, Metro does nothing to look to other examples of transit implementation.
Leave a Comment