Here is a look at some of the transportation headlines gathered by us and the Metro Library. The full list of headlines is posted on the Library’s Headlines blog, which you can also access via email subscription or RSS feed.
Beautiful New Jersey! Photo by Kai Schreiber, via Flickr creative commons.
TAP coming to DASH buses (L.A. Streetsblog)
The largest muni bus operator in L.A. County is finally adopting TAP — a big addition for the electronic fare cards as several other prominent bus operators still do not use the cards. If transit operators in the region truly aspire to a regional fare system, having common fare media is a big step toward that goal.
California High-speed Rail Authority gets new CEO (L.A. Times)
Jeffrey Morales, 52, headed Caltrans under Gov. Gray Davis and has been working on the bullet train project for Parsons Brinckerhoff, the project manager for the rail authority. The Times’ story focuses on the engineering firm’s role in the project while also pointing to the fact that, unlike his predecessor, Morales has political experience that could help in what has become the most political of projects.
Traffic jam on Mt. Everest (New York Times Dot Earth blog)
It’s the summit season and climbers are increasingly standing in long lines waiting to use trails to access the Earth’s tallest peak. Check out the video.
The problem getting municipal agencies to join is complex. My understanding of the main problem is that Metro can’t get everyone to agree how funds should be distributed (Back when I put stored value on my TAP card at a Foothill Transit Store, when it was the only agency doing that, I believe Foothill Transit kept all of that money regardless of where I TAPed the card). For instance, if I were to put $10 stored value on my card at a Metro station, but instead used Metrolink or an LADOT bus, does Metro get to keep that money even though I didn’t use their services? What’s a fair percentage for each agency? Which agency should manage and fund the TAP system? I know it sounds simple but inter-agency politics are never easy, especially in Southern California.
The other issue is lack of motivation. Why should Metrolink or Big Blue Bus switch to TAP cards? Their current fare systems work well for them. The EZ-Transit Pass is meant to serve as a county-wide system and does the job well. Finally, switching to TAP has a high barrier to entry. It requires a lot of up front expense for a system which is, frankly, still at a beta-testing level. It would require new vending machines, TAP meters on buses and at rail stations, new fare checking equipment, and a lot of money on PR and public education about the new system.
Just because Metro thinks switching to their particular brand of electronic fare card is ideal doesn’t mean that agencies countywide are going to agree with it. I know you’ll say that a lot of these issues can be resolved, and they can. But the fact that they are still problems right now – that you can’t buy a TAP card at the corner 7-11, that having to pay extra for an electronic fare card discourages casual users, that your TAP card expires, that (apparently) the system isn’t as secure as it could be – that should be enough reason for other agencies to hold off on implementation while Metro screws around with it until it’s ready.
James,
Correct, it is the same. But I made that point to put to light about the security feature.
If Metro has chosen the MIFARE standard, which has weaker security, it adds to concern about how easier it is to cheat the system.
You made a good point about Windows vs Macs. It’s easier to hack into Windows than Macs. Similarly, it’s easier to hack into MIFARE (TAP) than FeliCa (Suica).
If mass transit needs becomes important in LA, and if fares happen to rise since I don’t see how running a cheap flat rate system in LA can last forever, what’s stopping from an ingenious hacker to manipulate their TAP cards to make it look its loaded with a monthly pass, without actually paying for it? All you really need is some good programming skills and an USB card reader that can read and encode MIFARE cards. And such card readers can be bought from places like Made In China.com for less than $10.
The answer is yes, you can have a Metro pass and stored value on the same card. When boarding a DASH bus, fare will be deducted from the stored value part of your card.
Steve Hymon
Editor, The Source
It’s clearly obvious that it’s the POLITICAL issues and not the technical issues that are keeping muni operators off of TAP.
People have been singing the high praises of the EZ Pass, but we seem to be forgetting that that also required a lot of political wrangling to get all of the muni operators on board. I agree that politics isn’t easy.
I think TAP is caught in a Catch-22. The munis presumably won’t get on board until TAP gets better PR and until more people switch to TAP, but clearly some people won’t switch until the munis switch first.
It’s a shame the government can’t pass a TAP law similar to the various gas emissions laws we have, because that obviously also forced munis to buy new equipment (CNG buses, hybrid buses).
Simply said, government ownership of mass transit doesn’t work because of too much politics involved in the whole decision making process.
We’re better off privatizing the whole thing.