July 17, 2014
CDTA ANNOUNCES PUBLIC OUTREACH SCHEDULE
Authority Soliciting Feedback on Smart Card and Mobile Ticket Fare Products
ALBANY, N.Y. - The Capital District Transportation Authority (CDTA) will hold a series of public meetings to gather feedback on proposed fare products as part of its New Fare Collection System that will feature smart card and mobile ticket technology.
The proposal includes no changes to the cash/base fare to ride fixed route buses or on BusPlus. There will be no changes to the cash/base fare to use STAR or NX service. The changes deal almost exclusively with prepayment programs.
A key feature of CDTA’s new system is the ability to use smart cards and mobile ticketing technology that offers new payment options and increased flexibility. The proposal focuses on stored value debit (Pay As You Go) and Frequent Rider (similar to Rolling Swipers) options.
Current plans are to present the final structure for approval by the end of 2014 with the goal of offering smart card/mobile payment features to customers in 2015.
Wednesday, July 30
6pm-8pm
Clifton Park/Halfmoon Library
475 Moe Road, Clifton Park
Tuesday, August 5
6pm-8pm
Uncle Sam Atrium
4 Third Street, Troy
Thursday, August 7
6pm-8pm
North Albany Academy
590 North Pearl Street, Albany
Tuesday, August 12
6pm-8pm
Albany Public Library, Main Branch
161 Washington Avenue, Albany
Thursday, August 14
6pm-8pm
Hamilton Hill Boys & Girls Club
400 Craig Street, Schenectady
Tuesday, August 19
6pm-8pm
Cohoes Senior Center
10 Cayuga Plaza, Cohoes
New Fare Collection System Proposed Fare Card Structure
Base (cash) fare:
$1.50 Regular Route
$2.00 BusPlus
$2.50 STAR
Basic Structure
Pay As You Go debit account smart card ride is $1.30 for first three rides (fixed route and BusPlus), fourth and up are free for the rest of the day.
Smart card half fares is $0.65 for first three rides (fixed route and BusPlus), fourth and up are free for the rest of the day.
A Frequent Rider smart card will be offered at a cost of $65 and be valid for 31 days from the first day of use. The half fare cost for the Frequent Rider option will be $32.50.
Mobile ticket fares are the same as smart card fares.
STAR
All STAR customers will be required to obtain a picture ID smart card to receive service.
Northway Xpress
NX Pay As You Go pricing: $4, $5 and $7 for Zones 1-3 respectively
NX Frequent Rider pricing: $110, $125 and $170 for Zones 1-3 respectively
Policies
CDTA half fare identification (with photo) must be used to purchase or use half fare products.
CDTA issued identification (with photo) will be needed for STAR service.
Customers over the age of 12 will need their own smart card to access service.
Fees
Lost card - $5
Damaged card - $2