Transportation
The Future of Transit Fare Cards Is No Fare Card At All
Chicago and Philadelphia are doing away with fare cards in favor of an "open fare" system
After a complicated and lengthy tendering process, the Chicago Transit Authority consummated a 12-year, $454 million deal to provide an "open payments" fare system for Windy City commuters. The CTA signed the agreement with the company Cubic just weeks after Philadelphia’s Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority concluded its own $129.5 million open payments contract.
In both cases, transit riders will be able to pay fares with credit or debit cards that have radio frequency identification (RFID) chips, which allow for so-called "contactless" transactions.