FARE
S P E C I A L
S E C T I O N :
COLLECTION
SYSTEMS
E-fare solution for Sacramento, CA By Ann Derby
INIT’s contract with Sacramento outlined the implementation of smart card passenger terminals on approximately 500 of the agencies’ buses.
Background The Sacramento Area Council of Governments (SACOG) is an association of local governments in the six-county Sacramento, CA, region that provides transportation planning and funding for the region, and serves as a forum for the study and resolution of regional issues. Its members include the counties of El Dorado, Placer, Sacramento, Sutter, Yolo and Yuba, as well as an additional 22 cities within the Sacramento region. In addition to preparing the region’s long-range transportation plan, SACOG assists in planning for transit, bicycle networks, clean air and airport land uses.
Challenges Finding an e-fare solution to successfully connect several area transit systems using one
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October 2012
simple fare card was the primary goal of the Council. For this reason, a consortium of six different transit operators was formed, including Sacramento Regional Transit District, Yolo County Transportation, Yuba-Sutter Transit, Elk Grove Transit, El Dorado Transit and Folsom Stage Lines. The task of the consortium was to find a provider that could integrate the multi-client, e-fare solution while ensuring the individual requirements of each agency. The aspects of the proposed fare solution that were critical for the success of SACOG’s new “Connect Transit Card” smart card started with the architecture of the system. SACOG wanted it build around a new Regional Service Center (RSC) which would serve as the central nervous system and data hub for the e-fare project. The RSC would connect to system garages, vehicles and light rail platforms though
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