Long-delayed bus fare
cards undergo tests

Question: What ever happened to the "smart cards" for the bus system?

Answer: The city began a two-month test of the long-delayed "smart card" fare system -- now being called Buslink -- in July and recently decided to extend the testing for a third month.

One hundred volunteers from Express Route 93, between Waianae and downtown Honolulu, have been testing out the cards.

In return for getting free bus rides during the trial period, volunteer riders have to keep a log "so we can match the logs up with the card interface device," said Cheryl Soon, director of the city Department of Transportation Services. It's a matter of not only testing the cards to make sure they're working properly, but also making sure that everyone understands how to use them, she said.

Initially, "smart card" equipment was installed on five buses. Bracket mounts for more equipment are being manufactured and should arrive in September, Soon said. They will then be installed in the rest of the city's 525 buses.

At that point, "we will start extending the classes of users," Soon said. However, she said she could not give a target date as to when the system might be fully implemented.

The city is spending $1.85 million for planning and equipment. The 2005 budget has another $125,000 to purchase additional "point of sale" equipment and cards.

Soon said there would be no cost to riders, except for replacement cards, above the cost of the service they are purchasing.

The system would work this way:

Participants would deposit money into an account and be issued a credit card-like card instead of a disposable pass. The computerized card would have "a lot of memory," Soon said.

Each rider decides whether to use the account for a monthly or annual pass or as a series of cash fares.

Fares would be deducted each time a card is tapped or touched to a computerized machine on each bus. The machine not only would note the value of the ride, but also record who got on at what stop, Soon said.

At the end of the day, each bus downloads the information for that day in a matter of seconds, she said. It's more convenient for the user and also helps the city obtain a good database of what bus stops people are using and other rider information, she said.

The so-called "smart cards" initially were to be tested more than a year ago. It's taken a while to get going, Soon acknowledged, and she said it will be "quite a while" before it's at full distribution.

"This requires both the testing of technology, as well as the testing of the human being," including not only the bus drivers and riders, but also "the people who sell (the cards), people who write the computer programs and who (will do) the troubleshooting," she said.

It's really been a matter of "ramping up so that the humans can catch up with the knowledge."

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