CharlieCard

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The CharlieCard is a contactless, stored value smart card used for electronic ticketing as part of the Automated Fare Collection (AFC) system installed by the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) at its stations and on its vehicles.[1] The CharlieCard was made available to the general public beginning December 4, 2006.[2] The last metal token was sold on December 6, 2006, at Government Center station.[3] By December 4, 2007, over 2 million had been distributed.

The CharlieCard is named after a fictional character in a folk music song often called "Charley on the MTA" (or, more simply, "M.T.A."), which concerns a man trapped forever on the Boston subway because he can't pay the fare required to exit.

Contents

[edit] CharlieCard and CharlieTicket details

The CharlieCard can store value (keep a cash balance) and hold a combination of time-based passes which allow unlimited rides during a set period of time. Passengers use the plastic, RFID-based CharlieCard by tapping it flatly against a target on a gate or a vehicle farebox. The gate then either automatically debits the cost of the passenger's ride card, verifies that the card has a valid transfer or verifies that the card has a pass that is valid for travel at that time at that particular location. Transit riders can add value or a monthly pass to their cards at machines located at MBTA stations and vehicles, MBTA ticket offices, retail sales terminals at select grocery/convenience/check cashing stores, and on-line (beginning in 2008).

At present, CharlieCards work on the MBTA's subway and bus services, most of which were converted in 2006, and are expected to be usable on MBTA commuter rail and ferry boat services by December 2008.[4] Testing on the Commuter Rail will begin in the summer of 2008.[1] CharlieCards will not be accepted on THE RIDE.[5]

The automated fare collection equipment is also compatible with the MBTA's CharlieTicket, a paper card with a magnetic stripe that operates as a stored value card or time-period (monthly, weekly, or daily) pass. The MBTA first implemented the stored-value CharlieTicket on the Silver Line in February of 2005. The ticket is inserted into a slot in the gate or farebox, the fare is deducted, and the remaining balance is displayed on a small screen. The ticket is then returned to the rider, even if there is no remaining value.

CharlieCards can be reloaded and CharlieTickets can be purchased and reloaded at Fare Vending Machines (FVMs) in converted stations and elsewhere in the system including buses. All FVMs accept credit and debit cards; most also accept cash and coins, including the discontinued MBTA tokens. The AFC fareboxes on buses and light rail trains accept CharlieCards, Change Tickets, CharlieTickets, cash (up to $20 bills), coins, and MBTA tokens. When customers pay with cash on the bus, they may receive their change on a "ChangeTicket".

The MBTA gives a discount for CharlieCard users, beginning with the fare increase which took effect on January 1, 2007. For example, a subway or trolley ride costs $1.70 with a CharlieCard but $2.00 with a CharlieTicket or cash. Bus riders face a $0.25 surcharge over the CharlieCard fare ($1.25 - $1.50), and similar surcharges are planned for commuter rail, and harbor ferries, but not THE RIDE.[6] [7] The MBTA also plans to provide the cards themselves free of charge, at least initially, at pass offices, at stations throughout the system, at local retailers, and online.[8] [9]

As of March 2008, a researcher claims that the CharlieCard's security is weak.[2][3]

Other transit systems employing technology similar to that used in the CharlieCard include Atlanta (the Breeze Card), Washington D.C (SmarTrip), Chicago (Chicago Card), Hong Kong (the Octopus Card), Seoul, Taipei (EasyCard) , Singapore and London (the Oyster Card).

[edit] Effect on transit employees

Token collectors have been retrained as Customer Service Agents (CSAs), brought out of their booths and assigned to guide MBTA customers in the stations. The MBTA also plans "Hub Stations" within six existing subway stations. These glass-walled control rooms will house personnel monitoring various signal and alarm systems, including Closed-circuit television. Personnel in the Hub Stations will be able to direct customer service agents to customers, and will interact with customers via call boxes located throughout the system. To support the added technology, the MBTA is connecting all subway stations in a fiber optic loop digital network, largely using its own right of way.

Ticket machines and fare gates at the World Trade Center station on the Silver Line.
Ticket machines and fare gates at the World Trade Center station on the Silver Line.

[edit] Automated Fare Collection facilities

The bulk of the MBTA's vehicles and stations were transitioned to the CharlieCard-compatible system throughout 2006, with Fields Corner the last to be converted on December 22, 2006.

Fare Vending Machines are available at all subway stations, as well as on the baggage-claim level of Logan International Airport terminals, inside Fenway Park, and at stations on the Green Line "D" Branch.[2] Proof-of-Payment Validation machines will also be installed at selected stops on the other Green Line branches.[10]

There are no plans to install Fare Vending Machines at Silver Line surface stops at the present time. Instead, the MBTA plans to install fare card sales terminals inside retail stores at other heavily trafficked locations in the system, including along busy bus routes and near selected Green Line and Silver Line stops, and in non-traditional locations such as Fenway Park.[9]

[edit] CharlieCard on the Green Line

The Green Line is the most heavily traveled light rail line in the country, with an average of 200,400 riders each weekday. Because of this heavy ridership, at selected stops on the Green Line the MBTA implemented the Show-N-Go system allowing riders to flash their monthly passes and enter through the rear doors of a train.[11] This worked well when monthly passes were on paper tickets (and this was the case well before the introduction of AFC), however it became an issue when the MBTA encouraged riders to store their monthly passes on their CharlieCards, as passes held this way cannot be verified visually. The MBTA's solution was to turn the surface portion of the Green Line into a proof-of-payment system, increase the efficiency of boarding at peak times on surface Green Line stops. All doors on all trolleys will open at all stations. Passengers can pay their fare in several ways, depending on their payment method. Passengers paying with cash must continue to enter through the front door and pay at the farebox, where they will receive a proof-of-payment receipt. Stored-value CharlieCard or CharlieTicket holders may also need to pay at the farebox. However, selected stops on all four of the Green Line branches contain ticket validators which allow passengers to have money deducted from their CharlieCards or CharlieTickets before boarding and providing them with a proof-of-payment. With this receipt in hand, these passengers can enter through the rear doors of trolleys. In addition at the busiest stations, MBTA inspectors with handheld validators will be stationed at stops to deduct money from and verify monthly passes on CharlieCards, also allowing these riders to enter through any door. (Thirty of the handheld readers have been deployed, with an additional 20 coming by the end of January, 2007, according to the MBTA.) Persons holding monthly passes can also just enter through any doors.[10] All passengers, even those who entered through the rear doors, may still be required to go to the front of the train and make payment (or show their receipt) to trolley drivers. MBTA Transit Police will conduct random checks to make sure riders have paid their fares. [12]

[edit] The name

The CharlieCard is named after the title character in the 1948 protest folk music song, "Charlie on the MTA". The song was written to protest a fare increase in the form of an extra five cent exit fare for longer rides and was later made popular by the Kingston Trio in 1959. Ironically, the CharlieCard will make future fare increases easier to implement.

One of the rejected names for the farecard system was "The Fare Cod", a pun on both the way locals might pronounce "Card" and the fish that was once integral to the Massachusetts economy, and also a reference to other transit cards named for ocean animals, such as London's Oyster and Hong Kong's Octopus. Another rejected name was T Go card with the T being the symbol for the MBTA. [13]

[edit] References

  1. ^ Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority. The Charlie Card Reusable Ticket System. Retrieved on 2006-12-29.
  2. ^ a b Daniel, Mac. "Starts and Stops -- Sign of winter: plow drivers sought", Boston Globe, 2006-11-12, p. B2. Retrieved on 2006-11-12. 
  3. ^ MBTA bids farewell to an era the last brass tokens are sold
  4. ^ Ryan, Andrew (2007-12-04). CharlieCard celebrates its first birthday. The Boston Globe.
  5. ^ http://www.mbta.com/riding_the_t/accessible_services/?id=7108 THE RIDE. Retrieved on July 14, 2007
  6. ^ Shartin, Emily. "Winners, losers in new T fares", Boston Globe, 2006-07-06. Retrieved on 2006-08-09. 
  7. ^ Daniel, Mac. "T will proceed with fare increases", Boston Globe, 2006-10-07, p. A1. Retrieved on 2006-10-07. 
  8. ^ Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority. Get the CharlieCard Today. Retrieved on 2006-12-29.
  9. ^ a b Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (2006-11-30). CharlieCard Distribution Plan (Press Briefing). Retrieved on 2006-12-04.
  10. ^ a b Daniel, Mac. "Working out kinks on the Green Line", Boston Globe, 2006-12-10, p. B2. Retrieved on 2006-12-10. 
  11. ^ Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (2006-09-01). "Show-N-Go Continues Along the Green Line". Press release. Retrieved on 2006-12-29.
  12. ^ Daniel, Mac. "Free rides will halt on MBTA", Boston Globe, 2006-12-29, p. B1. Retrieved on 2006-12-29. 
  13. ^ Dig Staff. "Forever, 'Neath the Streets of Boston", The Weekly Dig. Retrieved on 2006-08-09. 

[edit] External links

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