Commuter Rail Fare Collection Systems

I am doing a report for school on why Boston's MBTA does not use the same fare collection system on its Commuter Rail system as its other modes. As part of this report, I have to talk about how other Commuter Rail systems collect fares.

Are there any that operate by swiping cards or by patrons self scanning tickets or are all tickets checked by conductors? Are there other ways that they collect fares? This can include operators worldwide.

There are no commuter rail services in North America that operate with "paid areas" - i.e. turnstiles and controlled areas where only paid passengers can be. Pretty much universally, they either employ on board staff to collect tickets (and in some cases sell tickets onboard), or use Proof of Payment (POP) methods (which you can read up on - there's a lot of good material out there...start with Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proof-of-payment).

I don't know if you followed the Wikipedia links to Caltrain (San Francisco Peninsula Commuter Rail) and their implementation of the Clipper Card (Similar to Charlie) for fare collection with tap on tap off zone/distance based fares but it gives a good idea of how Charlie could be done on the MBTA Commuter Rail. I'm not sure but I also thought they used the same basic tech as the T as a quick scan doesn't show the T using Cubic tech like Clipper does...

Slightly off topic: I would love to hear where you go with this and forward/sell that report to Metrolink in Southern California. It would be great to get them on TAP.

jb9152, the last time I noticed was in the early 1990's, but Toronto's GoTransit used entrance and exit gates and had the platforms as prepaid areas. But their gates had no barriers, they were like turnstiles with just the posts and nothing other than an alert agent. I remember once trying to joke with an attractive opposite gender agent, "Would you run after me if I tried to walk through with no ticket", "No, but I would call that big security guard who would probably tackle you".

I don't know if they still use that system today. Also the trains still had crew in the passenger area, I assume they handled operation conductor tasks, and presumably there were fewer of them than if they would have needed also to collect tickets.

Montreal had a slight variation. Outbound at Central station there were separate stairways for near stations and far station, and some sort of VIP velvet rope arrangement on the platform to ensure you got on the appropriate car.
I only rode once in rush hour, as with Toronto my experiences were in the 1980's and 1990's. I can't remember if they collected tickets at the top of the stairs or on the train. and if they did do it at the top of the stairs at rush hour they might not have needed to do so at railfan riding times like when I usually rode.

SM89, the Illinois Central for some decades in the recent past had a fare-collection system involving magnetic-strip tickets and entrance and exit turnstiles (I don't recall whether they were actual turnstiles, or retractable gates, but the principle is the same) on its suburban services out of Chicago. I can't recall the dates, but as I recall it was in effect for 30 or 40 years and was regarded as state of the art when introduced; I believe it has since been discontinued. I am not aware of any other commuter railroad in the U. S. that adopted a similar system. If you are interested in following it up, the Illinois Central Historical Society has a website at http://www.icrrhistorical.org, and you might also try posting an inquiry in the Canadian National-Illinois Central forum on this site under Class I railroads, below. Good luck with the paper.

Thanks for the feedback!

From the links and suggestions above, I have identified Seattle and Toronto as having systems that would be similar to what I would propose for the MBTA, with the Toronto system being rolled out right now in fact.

http://www.rta-ride.org/ticketsschedules.html#fares

The link will take you to the Music City Star website for tickets & other info.

The Riverfront station is the only one with a ticket agent to sell passes & tickets. Sales at other stations are handled by Ticket Vending Machines. Crews have been very patient in having passengers buy tickets from the machines. (It helps to be the only thing moving on a single track branch line). Trains are 2-3 car gallery style pulled by a F40.

It sure would be convenient to have a "Nashville Card" that would be good on both the MTA bus system & the MCS. Many riders need to catch a MTA bus to reach their final destination. Parking at the outer MCS stations is free. I know of one station that also serves as a bus park & ride lot.

ExCon90 wrote:SM89, the Illinois Central for some decades in the recent past had a fare-collection system involving magnetic-strip tickets and entrance and exit turnstiles (I don't recall whether they were actual turnstiles, or retractable gates, but the principle is the same) on its suburban services out of Chicago. I can't recall the dates, but as I recall it was in effect for 30 or 40 years and was regarded as state of the art when introduced; I believe it has since been discontinued.

The turnstiles were pulled out in November 2003, but passengers still had to show their ticket on the train (when asked).

"What's the purpose [of the turnstiles] when we have to show our ticket on the train anyway?" said Aquila Ali, 28, of the South Side before boarding an Electric Line train at the Randolph Street station downtown.

http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2003 ... etra-train

South Shore passengers had to be allowed past the turnstiles by customer service (Passenger Assistance Link "PAL" phones) when the turnstiles were in place. (If the MED passengers felt like 2nd class citizens for needing to produce their ticket on entrance, exit and to a conductor the South Shore passengers could have been considered 3rd class citizens for needing to use PAL just to get in and out of a station's "paid" area.)

A good history of turnstile use on the IC/MED is available here: http://web.me.com/willvdv/chirailfan/farearcs.html


As far as other systems using "paid areas" ... it depends on how loose your definition of "commuter rail" is. I tried to ride the Cleveland system and found myself in a paid area ... unfortunately there were no trains going where I wanted to go at that time of day (next train 6+hrs) so an employee opened an entrance door and let me off the platform. I ended up with an unused ticket.

If there is enough time between stops for the conductors to check every passenger who boarded without missing any or people changing seats a conductor/ticket arrangement works. I'd only suggest changing to "paid areas" if the line was so busy that it would be cheaper to handle passengers through automated means. Creating and securing paid areas at stations isn't cheap.

I rode Illinois Central to South Chicago once around 1979, South Shore I think the same vacation, and South Shore again sometime before 1992. For the life of me I can't remember what the ticket system was any of those times, even though I knew beforehand that there were supposed to be turnstiles and vending machines involved.

I'm curious to know what the railroad.net community thinks of SEPTA's plan to go with an RFID system on their "commuter rail" system, which essentially involves smart cards and turnstiles.

http://www.septa.org/fares/npt/

Q: Will the NPT system use new equipment to collect fares?
A: Yes. You will see new electronic equipment on SEPTA buses, trolleys and in stations. Fareboxes, turnstiles, and regional rail stations will have a new electronic target called a reader. The subway-elevated lines and regional rail stations will also have new fare vending machines. Stations with turnstiles will also be equipped with a wider ADA compliant gate.

Q: How do I pay fares under the NPT system?
A: You will pay fares by tapping a contactless card against the electronic target as you enter stations or board vehicles. The contactless cards contain a computer chip that communicates with the target using radio signals. Riders may also choose to pay fares with a common debit or credit cards that carry a contactless chip.

Q: Can I still pay fares with cash?
A: You may still use cash on board SEPTA buses and trolleys. For most Market-Frankford, Broad Street and Regional Rail travel, fare vending machines will be available. Cashiers will no longer accept cash and tokens and will not issue transfers.

When I rode SEPTA Regional Rail, I was amazed that the only option to buy a ticket at most stations, including the heavily-used airport, was to use cash on the train. Even the busy Center City stations only offer ticket windows. Also, I'm pretty sure that every ticket clerk and conductor had their own idea of how much an Airport - Trenton ride cost.

As long as there are guards against accidental payment (say, walking near a SEPTA fare reader without the intention to board) I think it's a fine idea. This experiment will likely be watched around the country, though it has predecessors worldwide such as the London-area Oyster card and the original RFID fare card, the Hong Kong Octopus card. If they're going for a food theme, I can't wait to see the SEPTA Whiz-wit card.

I thought maybe the Scrapple card, but I like Whiz-wit better. It seems that SEPTA simply gave up on getting vending machines to work, instead doggedly soldiering on with one of the most inefficient fare-collection systems in the known world -- conductors and trainmen carrying cash in their pockets on the trains.

The fare collection system initiated by the Illinois Central and continued by Metra was hated by most IC/Metra Electric commuters. It required you to insert the ticket in the fare gate at the originating station and again at the terminal station. In addition, on just about every trip, the on-board conductor/trainman would ask to see your ticket, meaning riders would have to display their tickets THREE times for one ride. Eventually the Metra Electric riders rose up and demanded the elimination of the ticket gates, which the Metra board agreed to do. Metra Electric is still the only route that has ticket vending machines. Quite frankly the present old-fashioned system seems to work OK for the vast majority of riders. There's been some news stories recently about conductors not collecting tickets, but I'm only seen that happen on very crowded trains going to weekend events such as the Taste of Chicago.

There's been some curious discussion about how well the proposed SEPTA system will work. A group of officials held a closed-door forum and decided that a two way fare system would be best, with fare gates in center city and an RFID tag-out system at outlying stations and inner-city stations. Those in the middle would take no action when boarding/leaving the train, while those in the inner and outer zones would be charged more/less and have their fares "adjusted" when they tag out.

Some issues have been raised in installing fare gates in 30th Street station and PRR's Suburban Station, but the prevailing logic is it's best for the riders. The benefit is supposed to be less revenue loss and ease of payment with the system being entirely contactless and electronic, though there are critics of how secure RFID technology actually is.

The overall idea is to get cash off trains and buses, which are largely used by occasional riders, while daily riders use a weekly or monthly pass. The proposed system will still accept cash on both trains and buses (probably with a penalty), while eliminating transfers altogether on buses.