Tap to Ride could offer low-income discounts!
SacRT installed Cal-ITP (California Integrated Transit Project) Tap to Ride readers on light rail cars, which accept fare payments from credit cards or mobile wallets. It can read regular credit cars with contactless NFC capability, or Cash App cards which allow cash to be added to a card with works in the same way.
SacRT seems to have lost interest in this pilot, with non-functional readers not being repaired. We have heard various reasons, such as the particular readers were not reliable, to Internet access for the readers was not reliable. Readers have not been installed on buses or at light rail stations.
SacRT does intend to implement Cal-ITP Tap to Ride on buses and at light rail stations, though not on the new light rail cars. A number of advocates have questioned this implementation, as it makes sense to have readers on board all vehicles, instead of making the rider remember which readers are available where.
SacRT has recently obtained a grant to purchase readers (SacRT Receives $29 Million in Grant Funding to Advance Key Transit Projects in Sacramento Region) – not clear if this is all buses and all stations or not – which will install a different brand of reader on buses and integrate readers into the existing ticket vending machines.
“Transition to Digital Fare Technology
SacRT is transitioning to a digital fare system through the Cal-ITP Platform Validator and Smart Fare Vending Machine, in partnership with the CCJPA. This will streamline fare payments and transfers between SacRT services and Capitol Corridor trains, providing a more seamless experience for riders. SacRT plans to extend this template to other regional rail services, such as ACE and San Joaquins trains, making travel throughout Northern California easier and more efficient. SacRT will also collaborate with community-based organizations to raise awareness and provide training for new ticketing and scheduling systems, expanding ridership beyond transit-dependent populations.”
It is worth noting that more than half of the Connect Transit Card readers at light rail stations have failed, and apparently are not being repaired. The Connect Card was a SACOG mistake, using a vendor with no experience in transit cards, and readers very susceptible to vandalism. The readers on buses mostly work, though they have outages. We can only hope that the Tap to Ride readers will be reliable.
In the pilot Tap to Ride program, SacRT only implemented full fares, and never intended to consider or implement other fares. The Cal-ITP system has long had the capability to offer senior fares, and Monterey-Salinas Transit did so long ago. Dan Allison signed up for this on MST, and it was easy. Cal-ITP just added the capability to offer low-income fares, based on participation in CalFresh. Cal-ITP is actively working on the capability of offering disabled fares, and should have it fairly soon. Will SacRT take advantage of any of these discount fares? We don’t know, but we think it should.
STAR has long advocated for low-income fares, half off for qualifying riders. Cal-ITP offers an easy path to that service. Though it would not serve people who use Connect Transit Cards, ZipPass, or cash, SacRT will very likely transition out the unreliable Connect Card. The availability of the Cash App credit cards to which cash can be added at vendors would allow cash users to use the Cal-ITP system, though it does require planning to visit a vendor ahead of time, rather than on-the-fly cash payment on the bus or light rail ticket vending machine. We think these trade-off are worthwhile and fair.
Sacramento Transit Advocates and Riders (STAR) 
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