Now that all 26 L.A. County transit agencies are on TAP, a new TAP card design will be rolling out next month to mark the momentousness of having the “largest seamless transit network in the nation.” And being a person who loves collecting transit cards, I’m very excited about this!
Here’s how the old TAP cards look:
And here’s how the new cards look:
For those curious, the new designs were created by Metro’s Design Studio, who surveyed other municipal bus providers to ensure the looks were distinctive from Metro’s other marketing materials and best represented everyone involved.
The final designs were unanimously chosen for three reasons: 1) they speak to the natural landscape that unites the region covered by 26 transit agencies; 2) they evoke the feeling of free movement enabled by the TAP card, and 3) the vivid colors reflect sunny Southern California and our optimism as a community.
The new cards will be available to the public in October. You’ll be able to purchase them at Metro TVMs and anywhere else TAP cards are sold. Those who already have reduced fare TAP cards will be able to receive the new cards upon expiration of their existing card.
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Categories: Go Metro
Hi, are both designs available? I have only seen the blue one with the red and yellow dots. Is the orange design with the palm tree the new design for reduced fare?
Hi Wayne,
Yes, the orange design is for reduced fare cards only.
Anna Chen
Writer, The Source
Thank you Metro, is there a date set for these new Tap cards to be ready for purchase? Looking forward to it. Thanks again!
All monitors in Metro stations should ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS display the time! Just put it in the bottom right-hand corner (or any corner). It doesn’t matter what time it is. It matters what time Metro think it is because many of us are trying to time multiple connections.
I have a question. Originally the Tap card was only good on Torrance Transit on the line that runs to Downtown LA with very limited weekday rush hour service. So now is Torrance Transit accepting the Tap on all their routes? I normally use my Senior Tap card to buy a day pass. If that is now available on all municipal buses that would be great.
Hi Rick,
Yes, TAP is now accepted on all Torrance Transit lines.
Thank you,
Anna Chen
Writer, The Source
Why does Metro have to put an artificial expiration date on TAP cards? You can disable the cards if it hasn’t been used in a certain amount of time (e.g. 18 months) and keep it out of the system that way. That’s a simple few lines of code in the software. Making active TAP card to carry a forced expiration date is ridiculous and not a customer-friendly decision.
“keep it out of the system that way”
This is hardly an issue with the amount of computing power and hard drive spaces that are available today on modern servers. “Account maintenance” issues and costs are total BS and everyone knows it.
Luckily, most TAP cards issued today last about 10 years, unlike when the old ones which lasted only three years.
Also, I think a few lines of code could solve the “tapping” the card twice hassle when loading it at a machine. VERY ridiculous!
Hmm. TAP cards. Clipper cards from the Bay Area. Compass cards from San Diego. CharlieCards from the MBTA. SmarTrip cards from the Washington Metro. I’ve got a Ventra card on its way from Chicago, and I’ll likely come home from my fall vacation with a New York Metrocard that I’ll be able to reuse sometime before it goes rancid.
I see heavy transit users carrying their passes in various cases, often hung round their necks. But has anybody given any thought whatsoever to people who travel a lot, have a growing stack of transit cards from various agencies, and need some organized way to store them?
Perhaps Metro should list all the TAP card designs out there today that are still valid, something like a historical legacy.
At this point, it’s very well likely that Metro will keep issuing new card designs and commemorative ones, so there should be a digital library of TAP card designs on the TAP website.
I think it is unfortunate the new design does not say “Reduced”. This is useful when transferring to Metrolink, or non-LA county providers such as Omnitrans and OCTA. Obviously I can’t tap to pay with those three agencies, but I only have to show my card to pay the disabled cash fare. If the card is simply a plain orange design, that will make it harder — each time I board having to explain to the operator that orange means a reduced fare card. The current design makes it very clear.
Unless Metro has overlooked the matter, the reduced cards are supposed to come personalized with your photo, name, and concessionary type (senior, disabled, student, etc.) written on it, so it should be apparent to the non-TAP using transferring agency that you qualify for being disabled on their system.
Otherwise, you could just hang on to your current card until that one expires and let Metro know why they need to keep the words “REDUCED” visible on their next design.
Does this mean the sheriff is going to give a person a citation if that person is still using old exiting tap card, even if the old exiting tap card is not yet expired?
Hi Mike and everyone else;
No — you’re not going to be cited for using an old card. This is simply a new design. The guts of the card remain the same.
Steve Hymon
Editor, The Source
I’d be more excited if Metrolink hurrys up and enters the 21st century and gets into the program just with everyone else.
@TAP for Metrolink TAP Cards won’t come to Metrolink until all agencies in surrounding counties use TAP. How will you someone coming off Metrolink in Fontana transfer to Omnitrans, for example? Until then, I think the current solution of adding the chips to the paper tickets adequate. What they really need to do is make it so that the Metrolink tickets will TAP on buses and not just on Metro Rail turnstiles.
“Metrolink TAP Cards won’t come to Metrolink until all agencies in surrounding counties use TAP. How will you someone coming off Metrolink in Fontana transfer to Omnitrans, for example?”
This is an absurd and unrealistic argument. You have to draw the line somewhere, otherwise, we won’t get TAP anywhere unless the guy next door is using it.
Metro heads out to Ventura County (Thousand Oaks) and Orange County (Disneyland) and it still uses TAP, despite TAP isn’t used by VCTC, OCTA or ART.
BART crosses over county lines and heads out to Pittsburg/Bay Point and Dublin/Pleasanton, despire that TriDelta and ACE doesn’t use BART.
If going by this person’s trip report that he/she was able to do San Diego to Los Angeles on public transit for $5.15 back in 2005, at a certain point then, either LA has to stop using TAP and adopt Compass Card or vice-versa, or make TAP interchangeable with Compass Cards.
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/budget-travel/489998-san-diego-los-angeles-5-15-public-buses-6-hours.html
Will the old existing tap cards still be honored? And, if so, for how long?
Will the old TAP cards eventually become useless? Wii the newly-designed orange (reduced fare) TAP cards be issued in the mail automatically?
NOT REALLY!
I think I’ll stick with my Union Station commemorative until it falls apart.
I could careless about the card design, I’d rather have a functional TAP website!! When can I expect to do a balance transfer of my soon-to-be-expiring card to a new card online as promised on your video?
https://youtu.be/G00QitFDoh8?t=1m13s
It’s been two weeks already since the website has been redesigned, the time for excuses that “it’s a new website and we’re still trying to solve the kinks” has passed. It’s time to deliver what you’ve promised already!
It feels like you are purposefully delaying this feature in order to steal the remaining funds away from people have funds leftover in their soon to expire TAP cards, considering there’s no way to ask for refunds of the remaining balance either. This is definitely one way to steal people’s money to help fund Metro’s budget problems, that’s for sure.
@Balance, please take a deep breath and calm down. I’m sure you can transfer the funds between cards by calling the Metro toll free number for assistance.
If the Metro CSRs Cannot do this, let us know!
Actually it’s understandable why some people could be frustrated, moreso from a tech-savvy generation who are more used to having technology solve their problems immediately.
In this day and age where computers and online activities have become ubiquitous, it’s actually more of a pain in the butt to do something that can be done one’s ownself simply by going online with a few button clicks.
Weighing in the options that calling requires the hassle of dealing with restrictions such like it’s only available Monday to Friday, from 8:00AM to 4:30PM, and likely comes with long wait times, the tech-savvy generation would rather just go online and do it themselves with a few mouse clicks.
From a Metro’s perspective, it also makes sense for them to start fixing this problem quickly too. The more such simple tasks like balance transfers can be done online, the less Metro needs to hire customer service agents to handle menial tasks that the people can figure out how to do themselves.
Are these going to be on tap website and if so are they are shipable to los angeles or across the usa because i am virignia and i want ine