The Des Moines Area Regional Transit Authority is developing a policy on how to implement a new policy for the proposed use of new fare boxes which would accept a variety of options for collecting fares, as opposed to the current boxes which only accept tokens, paper transfers or cash.
The boxes would be paid with $3 million from the State of Good Repair Asset and Management program run by the United States Department of Transportation. Current plans call for a policy on the fares to be recommended early next year. Later next year or in early 2015, informational sessions and an education campaign on the new fare session would take place. Plans call for the boxes to be installed in early 2015 and the new fare policy to be implemented at that time. There are no immediate plans to raise the price of fares, according to a presentation on the fare boxes by DART.
The current fare boxes have been used beyond their projected lifetimes. The life expectancy of the boxes was 15 years, noted Steve Peterson, the alternate commissioner for DART who represents West Des Moines, Windsor Heights and Clive. The current boxes have served beyond their lifetimes. “With this grant we’re able to replace the fare boxes with modern technology,” Peterson added.
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While cash would continue to be accepted with the new boxes, they would have expanded options for collecting fares, noted Gunnar Olson, DART’s public affairs manager at a public meeting on November 19 in downtown Des Moines. The new boxes would encourage a variety of options which would speed up bus travel and cost less to maintain such as “smart cards” and employer IDs. The use of the tokens, paper transfers or cash, which impede service, would be reduced.
Smart cards store passes or cash value on an account. Passes would work like the transit passes sold nowadays—unlimited use within a time frame. The new card readers would collect the fare from a card when a rider boards a bus. This system would provide more options for paying fares and faster boarding times.
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DART officials hope to reduce the use of tokens, cash and paper transfers with the use of the cards. There are many issues with tokens, Olson noted, such as frequent handling by staff. Once they are collected from the current fare boxes, they have to be counted, sorted and repackaged. Tokens are also subject to resale on city streets. “It’s a mess,” Peterson noted.
Alternatives to tokens would include day passes as well as the cash value on smart cards.
Cash can cause issues as well if a fare box breaks down. “They’ll jam with cash,” noted Olson.
“We have to pull the bus out of service (in such a situation),” noted Jamie Schug, the chief financial for DART. The current boxes, which are 25-30 years old, are no longer being made and DART personnel have had to cannibalize existing boxes for spare parts in order to keep the other ones going.
Currently DART offers free paper transfers for riders paying with cash or tokens to transfer between routes. Among the disadvantages of paper transfers are they slow boarding and travel times. Transfers can cause disputes with operators. They are subject to fraud and are costly to maintain.
With the smart card system, DART could offer free transfers only to those using smart cards or ID cards and discontinue the use of paper transfers. This would encourage smart card use; speed up service; reduce costs, fraud and disputes and would require cash-paying riders to pay full fare each time they ride the bus. Moreover, Olson noted, those who use ID cards along with a pass to board at this time would just have to use one card with the new system.
The smart card option would allow DART to offer a variety of trip options for card users. One of them would be bonus trips. With the smart card system, DART could offer bonus trips for smart card users who load cash value onto their cards. The cards would track the number of individual trips by a customer and provide a free trip after a certain number of paid trips.
Another would be a day pass, which are seen as one alternative to the current tokens. Day passes would be offered for $5 each which would be activated with the first use and be valid through the end of the service day. Such a pass could be an alternative to paying with cash and transfers for people who only ride now and then.
A DART graphic demonstrated that if someone made four regular rides with the current fares or tokens on a single day, the cost would be equivalent to $7.00. With a day pass, the same four rides would cost $5.00—the cost of the pass.
Other forms of passes include seven-day and 30-day passes. A seven-day pass would not just be good from a Sunday through a Saturday—it could be good for any seven-day period, such as from a Wednesday through the next Tuesday. Similarly, a 30-day pass would not just be good from the first day of a calendar month through the last day of that calendar month. It would be valid for any thirty-day period starting with the first use.
DART plans to hold the following sessions about the proposed fare policy
Wednesday, November 20
· 1:30 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. Des Moines, Forest Library, 1326 Forest Avenue
· 4:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. West Des Moines, West Des Moines Community Center, 217 5th Street
· 6:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. Johnston, Johnston City Hall, 6221 Merle Hay Road
Thursday, November 21
· 4:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. Des Moines, East Side Library, 2559 Hubbell Avenue
· 6:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m., Ankeny, Ankeny City Hall, 401 West 1st Street.
People can also provide input by calling the DART offices at 515-283-8100, sending e-mail to dart@ridedart.com or sending letters to Attn: Fare Policy, DART Central Station, 620 Cherry Station, Des Moines, IA 50309. Comments can be sent at any time, although DART officials state they would ideally like to have them by the end of this month.