MTA Will Unveil Options for Using Fare Card System

Local transit officials will begin public debate on a fare card that would allow riders to pay once for travel anywhere in the county by bus, shuttle, subway or rail line.

The so-called “universal fare system” would be more convenient and less confusing, they say.

“This has the potential to be the most important project to improve public transit access and mobility in Los Angeles,” said Jim McLaughlin, transit planning director for the Metropolitan Transportation Authority. “It will be seamless transportation.”

The MTA will unveil five universal fare card options at an Aug. 15 public hearing at its downtown headquarters, although two are likely to attract the most interest, according to transit officials.

One alternative would employ machine-read magnetic-strip cards, which have been used in some U.S. cities since the 1970s.

Another popular option is the “smart card”--embedded with a computer chip--that would function like a bank debit-credit card.

The cards would be read through wireless transmitters mounted in ticket vending machines and fare boxes.

Essentially, customers wouldn’t even have to take the cards out of their pockets or purses, significantly reducing boarding times, MTA officials said.

Smart cards are now used on the Washington, D.C., subway system, and New York, Chicago, London and Paris also are experimenting with the technology.

MTA project officials say they have spent more than $1 million since the early 1990s to study and develop a new system. That does not include as much as $140 million the agency estimates it could cost to replace outmoded fare boxes and ticket vending machines to accommodate the new fare cards.

They also contend that existing equipment is wearing out and needs to be replaced anyway.

Whichever option wins, the MTA’s goal is to install a new system by 2004 on all its major bus and rail lines as well as those operated by 16 municipal transit operators and as many as 25 smaller local lines.

That might not be so easy, according to some experts and local transit officials familiar with the distrust that has characterized the relationship between regional and local transit agencies.

“There have been many historic disagreements between the MTA and the municipal operators,” said Jonathan Richman, a national transit expert who has focused on big-city transportation issues. “So . . . the plan is going to require a degree of cooperation that’s unusual in the context of Los Angeles.”

Richman and others say that before the MTA implements a new fare system, it must grapple with several issues, including how to share revenue among disparate transit operations and the development of a workable regional fare policy that will make using public transit convenient and reliable.

“The thought of all the area operators going to this system at one time is a little overwhelming,” said Julie Austin, executive director of Foothill Transit, the county’s second-largest transportation system.

John Catoe, head of Santa Monica’s Big Blue Bus line, said representatives of the 16 regional transit operators have been meeting regularly with the MTA to try to overcome their historic distrust.

Beyond that effort, Catoe said his colleagues must find a new fare system that has the riders’ best interests at heart.

Despite potential problems, Catoe and others say they are excited about the prospect of introducing a more user-friendly fare system in Los Angeles.

The new technological options, for example, make it possible for a transit system to offer flexible fares.

Instead of paying a flat rate to travel two or 20 miles, riders could be charged based on the actual distance traveled. Fare cards could be bought for varying lengths of time and reduced fares could be offered those who use the system regularly.

The new cards could also reduce fraud that the MTA estimates costs the agency $5.5 million to $11.1 million annually, an official said.