TAP Cards: How to make them truly smart
March 5, 2012 9 Comments
As Metro begins moving toward a locked-turnstile system on its rail lines, TAP cards are going to be even more important. It’s going to be in Metro’s best interest to convince users to make the switch from paper tickets to TAP, and it’s going to be in the users’ best interests to do so. Still, there are a few things that can make TAP cards even better. They call them “smart,” but right now there’s not a lot smart about the cards, so here’s how I think the system can be improved: Make them automatically convert to 1-day, 7-day, and 20-day passes when the card’s use hits a certain price threshold.
My tap card says "Smart. Simple. Secure." But is it really all of those things?
Now, I can’t say I came up with this idea on my own, as I’ve heard it talked about by various people, but it’s worth writing down.
My card says “Smart. Simple. Secure.” on it, but out of those three things, I think it really only succeeds at being secure. I’m not sure what makes the card smart… it deducts $1.50 every time I tap it, which is more repetitive than smart. And sure, it’s simpler than buying a ticket every time I ride, but using TAP makes me think ahead and wonder if I will use it enough each day or month to justify buying a pass, or if I should just use pre-loaded funds. Predicting my travel patterns for a day, let alone the whole month, is rarely simple.
Currently, I use the Metro just barely enough to make a 30-day pass not worth it most months, though, at times I have spent over $75 in a single month. The problem is, I don’t always know 30 days in advance when I will do that. With a little software engineering, Metro could convert the TAP system to be truly smart, adapting to the amount of use and converting automatically to a pass as needed.
It should simply stop deducting funds from a card once $5 has been spent per day, $20 within a 7-day period, or $75 within 30 days. All TAP cards will work on a stored-value basis, and no passes would need to be bought ahead of time.
For example, within a single day…
The first ride will cost $1.50
The second ride will cost $1.50 — for a total of $3
The third ride will cost $1.50 — for a total of $4.50
The fourth ride will cost $0.50 — for a total of $5 (the current cost of a day pass)
The fifth, sixth, and more rides will cost $0 — for a total of $5 (the current cost of a day pass)
The most a card will be charged in a single day is $5 — the cost of a day pass. The next day, the first tap will again deduct $1.50 from the card. Similarly, once a card has been charged $75 within a 30-day period, it will stop being charged for subsequent taps within that period — effectively becoming a 30-day pass.
The only complication would be if someone were to TAP multiple people in with a single card, but this is not currently possible on the Metro system. In other cities, you can swipe a card three times for three people to enter the transit system, but in LA, the TAP cards will only register one TAP within a certain period of time at a station.
This software change, to effectively make all TAP cards smart by limiting the charges to the prices of passes within the respective time periods, will encourage transit riders to switch to TAP, knowing they will never be overcharged for making an unexpected detour or running another errand.
Simply put money on the card, use it as much as you want, and know you’re always getting the best deal.
That would be too smart to actually be put to use.
And you have to also consider that a great number of people use multiple bus lines to travel. For myself, I use the EZ monthly pass because I travel on the metro rail, bus and Foothill transit lines. Most municipal bus lines have not or cannot (because of cost) upgraded to the TAP card. How would you regulate those cost on a single TAP card? All multiple bus line users buy a transfer ‘ticket’ to navigate those different lines at a reduced rate.
If you could fix that problem I’ll give you a gold star.
Cheers
True, I was only referencing passes within the Metro system for this post. Accommodating all of the transfers from other agencies (Metrolink and EZ Pass users mainly) is going to be Metro’s biggest problem when they really start locking the gates soon. I don’t know how to solve that, other than getting all of those passes and agencies on TAP too (or hiring agents to tap these users in at every station entrance), but somebody needs to do some serious thinking and implementing or there are going to be lots of problems soon.
I completely agree with cutting off deduction after a certain amount has been spent given the predetermined times for unlimited access (one day, a month, etc.).
However, another thing we HAVE to think about are the ONE day users, most likely visitors, business travelers, or discretionary riders going to events only a few time a year while using Metro. I would assume it would be much more costly to dispense TAP cards from machines for people who plan to throw it away in a day or two. We need a paper ticket version that is also magnetic that can be “tapped” on the machine.
It’s outrageous to think everyone should have a TAP card if it will be tossed away only once.
Two problems with this.
1)RFID cards (of which TAP is one) are notoriously hackable so copies of your card could be made and, with coordination, the goal of the $0 incremental ride can be reached sooner.
2) The switch to a 30 day pass away from a monthly pass was actually a money grab. 365 divided by 30 equals 12.1666, 366/30=12.2, so now what used to cost 12 (months) times $75 ($900) will cost $915 iin 2012. And while pay or benefits checks are issued monthly, LA Metro wants its money every 30 days or “no ride for you!”, which has put a burden on the underclass. (EZ pass is still monthly, but when it moves to 30-day Metro will collect at least (.16 times $84 or) $13.44 more per annum).
Implementing your plan will result in less $$$ for LA Metro overall, and provides an incentive to hack the RFID card so I don’t see how they would go along with it.
On the other hand this incentivizes card holders to “TAP-in” so more data is collected and customer are easier to track and trace, so maybe they will go for it.
Brigham, I totally agree.
Single rides should still be sold and paper-media and need to work seamlessly with a locked-gate system. This should be in the works, as the company who supplied the system says on their website that they will provide this feature (called Limited Use cards) for it:
http://cts.cubic.com/en-us/customers/unitedstates/casestudylosangeles.aspx
Also, last May there was an executive report at Metro regarding this specific issue:
http://www.metro.net/board/Items/2011/05_May/20110519EMACItem11.pdf
But of course, we’ll see if there’s any real action taken on it before they move ahead with gate locking.
Erik,
While I hesitate to agree with “money grabbing,” your first point is rather funny.
In my post I argued that TAP cards are neither Smart nor Simple. And you have now said, in addition, that they are not necessarily as Secure as they should be.
While certainly (I think) the best way to ride and pay for Metro right now, it seems TAP cards do not live up to any of the claims they make right on the face of the card as well as they could (should).
This system is completely hackable. With the right keys from my phone I can dump the data of my Tap Card, manipulate the amount I have on the card and rewrite that data back to the card.
This system is not secure! It is wide open if you know how. The MIFARE Classic 1K cards, which these are are weak. Great if you want to add “$50″ to your card.
Can more than one person [ Two People ] get on a bus with ONE EZ Pass ?
Two people cannot use the same pass. An EZ PASS is a monthly pass good for one person… The second would have to pay a regular fare or have their own pass (daily, weekly, monthly or EZ). The same is true for rail, each rider must have his or her own TAP card with valid fare.