TransLink (San Francisco Bay Area)
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TransLink is a rechargeable contactless stored value smart card fare collection system being implemented in the San Francisco Bay Area. The fare system was introduced as a pilot program in 2002 by the Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC) to reduce the number of fare systems and help integrate transit systems in the Bay Area. TransLink is still being rolled out, and currently only two transit agencies accept the cards.
Expansion will continue in 2006 to expand the coverage of TransLink to transit systems in the Bay Area. Some TransLink pilot programs have been discontinued (e.g. the ability to use it as a monthly pass on all San Francisco Municipal Railway lines, and use in some BART stations) in preparation for the full rollout of TransLink. In general the rollout of Translink has been much slower than that of similar cards including Oyster card and SmarTrip, due in part to the many different complex fare structures present in the Bay Area.
Two transit agencies currently accept TransLink on all routes.
Of the two transit agencies currently accepting TransLink, Golden Gate Transit carries a disproportionate number of pilot program cardholders due to active registration efforts at Golden Gate Ferry System terminals (all of which were already fully equipped for TransLink during the pilot program) and due to the complex zone-based fare structure of that agency which allows for neither magnetic stripe farecards nor monthly passes. BART is currently conducting a pilot program under the "EZ-Rider" name using similar technology, with the intention of transferring EZ-Rider users to TransLink when that system is fully launched on BART.[1] TransLink is expected to be rolled out in 2007 at BART, Caltrain, and MUNI, all three of which installed TransLink capability at major stations/lines during the pilot program (though BART and MUNI later disabled their capability to prepare the full rollout). Rollout will then, in 2008, proceed to cover the VTA network, part of which participated in the pilot program, and the SamTrans bus network, which did not participate in the pilot program at all. Finally, WHEELS, Tri-Delta Transit, WestCAT, County Connection and other smaller transit agencies which did not participate in the pilot program are expected to install TransLink on their bus lines in 2009 or later.
Important transit agencies that will not install TransLink capability include Amtrak and the Altamont Commuter Express (ACE), both of which provide rail links between Fremont and San Jose. Some VTA bus lines serving this corridor, however, have been TransLink-equipped since the start of the pilot program.
