How Smart is Your Card?
A press release on KC Metro's website says:
By 2006, passengers will be able to easily transfer from one system to another without digging in their pockets for extra fares and tickets. It will just take a wave of a “smart card” embedded with a microchip that automatically calculates any fare due. The cards can be reloaded and used indefinitely, and will eliminate the current system of more than 300 types of tickets, passes and tokens.
Well, as you can see, it's 2008 and the fabled ORCA card is not here yet (and is probably a year or more away). What happened?
Well, KIRO says that the problem could be the contractor, ERG. ERG was recently fired by the city of Sydney, Australia, for completely failing to deliver a smart card for that city, after 5 years of delays.
ERG has pushed back hard, countersuing the city and arguing that it was bureaucratic disinterest and incompetence that doomed the project. The company also designed Hong Kong's Octopus Card, which by all accounts is incredible successful, so I wouldn't be so quick to put all the blame on them.
- Frank's blog
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I really hope that they get this system up and running. When I lived in DC, they got their smart cards integrated into the metro (subway) and their buses. Not having to scrounge for change made me much more likely to ride the bus.
All we'd have to do here is to allow folks to charge their ORCA cards online, via parking meters, or some other convenient way, and we'd be set.
2006?? I think the timeline is more like in 2009. I also think that KCM is going to roll out a new technology upgrade for users at that time, integrating GPS and AVL potentially using the ORCA system to get the GPS or something. I heard all this back in 2005 tho.
A family friend of mine has been working for CT on the smart card for years. She told me that ERG is the reason it is taking so long and that the company is poorly managed. My impression is that they are making progress finally and it should be out by next year.
It should be coming in 2009. According to Sound Transit's 2008 Milestones at the bottom of the On Deck section:
"[ ] Regional Smart Card (named ORCA) completed and ready for 2009 launch"
I'm really excited that it's coming next year, just in time for light rail. I was in the UW beta test, and although I have a UPASS which is the greatest pass ever, I could imagine not having to worry about paper transfers, zones, and exact change. It think it'll be cool to buy a topped-up ORCA card as a gift for someone.