Regional Fare collection working group

HART patron swiping fare card in farebox

Overview

The focus of this working group will be to review the opportunities, technology and funding options for fare box replacement throughout our fleet. The majority of HART’s current fare boxes are over 26 years old and only accept cash, coin and HART fare card with no ability to expand that capability to any other type of fare medium (smartcard, credit or debit card, or other agency passes).

Joint participation in a regional approach lends itself to the new focus of federal funding which leans toward project approval of those initiatives that take into consideration the regional nature of transit. Aside from funding, the other aspect of this approach would be the ability for all of our patrons to be able to seamlessly ride on the other agencies systems with the same fare medium, easing the issues of connectivity within the region.

The working group will consist of a cross-functional team of HART staff (technical, operations, marketing, etc.), and regional representatives from Pinellas Suncoast Transit Authority (PSTA), Polk County Transit Services, and Lakeland Area Mass Transit District (Citrus Connection) with the goal of clearly (1) understanding the current market for both the fare box technology and the technological abilities of our ridership demographic, (2) crafting a requirements document, and (3) crafting a scope of work and understanding that could be used in a future procurement and solicitation.