RTD Buses Will Get Computerized Collection Boxes
More than 2,600 computerized fare collection boxes designed to speed up passenger loading will be installed in RTD buses beginning in January.
“What it entails is a whole different method of how people pay,” RTD spokesman Rick Jager said. “On the old box you had to dump in the coins. The new one has two apertures, one for coins or tokens and the other for a dollar bill that feeds it in a flat mode.”
Exact fares will still be required, but in the future the machines can be modified to accept magnetically stripped passes and transfers, he said.
The new system, which will accept U.S. coins, dollar bills and two sizes of tokens, was subjected to extensive evaluation and testing before it was accepted by the RTD, Jager said. The total cost of the contract with Cubic Western Data of San Diego is $10.7 million, with 80% in federal money and the balance to be paid locally.
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