The Chicago Transit Authority is waiving the $5 fee to obtain a Ventra transit through the end of the year, according to the Chicago Tribune. With Ventra, customers are presented with the flexibility of a modern fare payment system, including faster boarding, account management and value protection. A simple “tap” of a contactless card enables […]

Undergraduate students at Massachusetts Institute of Technology have developed a wearable alternative to smart cards. The group came up with the Sesame — as in “open sesame” — ring for use on the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority system. Commuters simply tap the ring in the center of the card target, much like their existing Charlie Card. […]

Identive is working together with the Land Transport Authority (LTA) in Singapore to design a new smart chip-based transit ticket for the Southeast Asian country’s extensive rail network. TransitLink, as the LTA administrator, has awarded Identive a three-year contract valued at $3.9 million to supply the tickets, which include near field communication (NFC) chips from […]

Transport for London (TfL) has launched a public proposal to seek customers’ views on the idea of discontinuing cash fare payment on all London buses by 2014, according to Kensington & Chelsea Today. This year, cash fares will make up less than one percent of bus journeys – down from 25% in 2000. Paying with […]

Transit users have launched a petition calling on TransLink to revisit a proposed “double transit fee” for cash paying bus riders that will come into effect with the introduction of the transit’s new Compass Card, according to The Vancouver Sun. Under the new system, bus passengers who pay cash fares will no longer be able […]

Cubic Transportation Systems has received a $54.5 million six-year extension to the company’s system support services contract with the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (Metro). This service extension covers the repair and maintenance of Metro’s rail fare collection equipment, TAP validators for regional bus operators and the back office systems that process the TAP […]

VeriFone announced that its PAYware Wynid managed payments solution is powering passenger ticket purchases aboard France’s national railroad operated by SNCF Group. Deployment began in April with the first 1,000 handheld devices. An additional 12,000 units are expected to roll out over three months and handle an estimated 1.65 million payment transactions annually across the SNCF-managed […]