Job No. XXXX Pantone 648 92+ pages; Perfect Bind with SPINE COPY = 14 pts ADDRESS SERVICE REQUESTED Washington, D.C. 20001 500 Fifth Street, N.W. TRANSPORTATION RESEARCH BOARD TCRP SYNTHESIS 96 TRANSIT COOPERATIVE RESEARCH TCRP PROGRAM SYNTHESIS 96 Off-Board Fare Payment Using Proof-of-Payment Verification Off-Board Fare Payment Using Proof-of-Payment Verification Sponsored by the Federal Transit Administration A Synthesis of Transit Practice TRB NEED SPINE WIDTH ACRP OVERSIGHT COMMITTEE* TRANSPORTATION RESEARCH BOARD 2009 EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE* Abbreviations and acronyms used without definitions in TRB publications: CHAIR OFFICERS AAAE American Association of Airport Executives James Wilding CHAIR: Adib K. Kanafani, Cahill Professor of Civil Engineering, University of California, Berkeley AASHO American Association of State Highway Officials Independent Consultant VICE CHAIR: Michael R. Morris, Director of Transportation, North Central Texas Council of AASHTO American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials Governments, Arlington ACI–NA Airports Council International–North America VICE CHAIR EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR: Robert E. Skinner, Jr., Transportation Research Board ACRP Airport Cooperative Research Program Jeff Hamiel ADA Americans with Disabilities Act Minneapolis–St. Paul MEMBERS APTA American Public Transportation Association Metropolitan Airports Commission ASCE American Society of Civil Engineers J. Barry Barker, Executive Director, Transit Authority of River City, Louisville, KY ASME American Society of Mechanical Engineers MEMBERS Allen D. Biehler, Secretary, Pennsylvania DOT, Harrisburg ASTM American Society for Testing and Materials James Crites Larry L. Brown, Sr., Executive Director, Mississippi DOT, Jackson ATA Air Transport Association Dallas–Fort Worth International Airport Deborah H. Butler, Executive Vice President, Planning, and CIO, Norfolk Southern Corporation, ATA American Trucking Associations Richard de Neufville Norfolk, VA CTAA Community Transportation Association of America Massachusetts Institute of Technology William A.V. Clark, Professor, Department of Geography, University of California, Los Angeles CTBSSP Commercial Truck and Bus Safety Synthesis Program DHS Department of Homeland Security Kevin C. Dolliole David S. Ekern, Commissioner, Virginia DOT, Richmond Unison Consulting DOE Department of Energy John K. Duval Nicholas J. Garber, Henry L. Kinnier Professor, Department of Civil Engineering, University of EPA Environmental Protection Agency Beverly Municipal Airport Virginia, Charlottesville FAA Federal Aviation Administration Kitty Freidheim Jeffrey W. Hamiel, Executive Director, Metropolitan Airports Commission, Minneapolis, MN FHWA Federal Highway Administration Freidheim Consulting Edward A. (Ned) Helme, President, Center for Clean Air Policy, Washington, DC FMCSA Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration Steve Grossman FRA Federal Railroad Administration Jacksonville Aviation Authority Randell H. Iwasaki, Director, California DOT, Sacramento Tom Jensen Susan Martinovich, Director, Nevada DOT, Carson City FTA Federal Transit Administration National Safe Skies Alliance Debra L. Miller, Secretary, Kansas DOT, Topeka HMCRP Hazardous Materials Cooperative Research Program Catherine M. Lang Neil J. Pedersen, Administrator, Maryland State Highway Administration, Baltimore IEEE Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers ISTEA Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act of 1991 Federal Aviation Administration Pete K. Rahn, Director, Missouri DOT, Jefferson City Gina Marie Lindsey ITE Institute of Transportation Engineers Los Angeles World Airports Sandra Rosenbloom, Professor of Planning, University of Arizona, Tucson NASA National Aeronautics and Space Administration Carolyn Motz Tracy L. Rosser, Vice President, Regional General Manager, Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., Mandeville, LA NASAO National Association of State Aviation Officials Hagerstown Regional Airport Rosa Clausell Rountree, CEO–General Manager, Transroute International Canada Services, Inc., NCFRP National Cooperative Freight Research Program Richard Tucker Pitt Meadows, BC NCHRP National Cooperative Highway Research Program Huntsville International Airport Steven T. Scalzo, Chief Operating Officer, Marine Resources Group, Seattle, WA NHTSA National Highway Traffic Safety Administration Henry G. (Gerry) Schwartz, Jr., Chairman (retired), Jacobs/Sverdrup Civil, Inc., St. Louis, MO NTSB National Transportation Safety Board EX OFFICIO MEMBERS C. Michael Walton, Ernest H. Cockrell Centennial Chair in Engineering, University of Texas, Austin PHMSA Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration Sabrina Johnson Linda S. Watson, CEO, LYNX–Central Florida Regional Transportation Authority, Orlando RITA Research and Innovative Technology Administration U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Steve Williams, Chairman and CEO, Maverick Transportation, Inc., Little Rock, AR SAE Society of Automotive Engineers Richard Marchi SAFETEA-LU Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act: Airports Council International—North America EX OFFICIO MEMBERS A Legacy for Users (2005) Laura McKee TCRP Transit Cooperative Research Program Air Transport Association of America Thad Allen (Adm., U.S. Coast Guard), Commandant, U.S. Coast Guard, Washington, DC TEA-21 Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century (1998) Henry Ogrodzinski TRB Transportation Research Board National Association of State Aviation Officials Peter H. Appel, Administrator, Research and Innovative Technology Administration, U.S.DOT Melissa Sabatine J. Randolph Babbitt, Administrator, Federal Aviation Administration, U.S.DOT TSA Transportation Security Administration American Association of Airport Executives Rebecca M. Brewster, President and COO, American Transportation Research Institute, Smyrna, GA U.S.DOT United States Department of Transportation Robert E. Skinner, Jr. George Bugliarello, President Emeritus and University Professor, Polytechnic Institute of New York Transportation Research Board University, Brooklyn; Foreign Secretary, National Academy of Engineering, Washington, DC James E. Caponiti, Acting Deputy Administrator, Maritime Administration, U.S.DOT SECRETARY Cynthia Douglass, Acting Deputy Administrator, Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Christopher W. Jenks Administration, U.S.DOT Transportation Research Board LeRoy Gishi, Chief, Division of Transportation, Bureau of Indian Affairs, U.S. Department of the Interior, Washington, DC Edward R. Hamberger, President and CEO, Association of American Railroads, Washington, DC John C. Horsley, Executive Director, American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials, Washington, DC Rose A. McMurry, Acting Deputy Administrator, Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, U.S.DOT Ronald Medford, Acting Deputy Administrator, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, U.S.DOT Victor M. Mendez, Administrator, Federal Highway Administration, U.S.DOT William W. Millar, President, American Public Transportation Association, Washington, DC Peter M. Rogoff, Administrator, Federal Transit Administration, U.S.DOT Joseph C. Szabo, Administrator, Federal Railroad Administration, U.S.DOT Polly Trottenberg, Assistant Secretary for Transportation Policy, U.S.DOT Robert L. Van Antwerp (Lt. Gen., U.S. Army), Chief of Engineers and Commanding General, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Washington, DC *Membership as of October 2009. *Membership as of October 2009. MASTERS NEED SPINE WIDTH TRANSIT COOPERATIVE RESEARCH PROGRAM TCRP SYNTHESIS 96 Off-Board Fare Payment Using Proof-of-Payment Verification A Synthesis of Transit Practice CONSULTANTS THOMAS F. LARWIN Lee Engineering San Diego, California and YUNG KOPROWSKI Lee Engineering Phoenix, Arizona SUBSCRIBER CATEGORIES Public Transportation • Finance Research Sponsored by the Federal Transit Administration in Cooperation with the Transit Development Corporation TRANSPORTATION RESEARCH BOARD WASHINGTON, D.C. 2012 www.TRB.org TRANSIT COOPERATIVE RESEARCH PROGRAM TCRP SYNTHESIS 96 The nation’s growth and the need to meet mobility, environmental, and Project J-7, Topic SA-27 energy objectives place demands on public transit systems. Current ISSN 1073-4880 systems, some of which are old and in need of upgrading, must expand ISBN 978-0-309-22341-6 service area, increase service frequency, and improve efficiency to Library of Congress Control Number 2011941918 serve these demands. Research is necessary to solve operating prob- lems, to adapt appropriate new technologies from other industries, and © 2012 Transportation Research Board to introduce innovations into the transit industry. The Transit Coopera- tive Research Program (TCRP) serves as one of the principal means by which the transit industry can develop innovative near-term solutions COPYRIGHT INFORMATION to meet demands placed on it. Authors herein are responsible for the authenticity of their materials The need for TCRP was originally identified in TRB Special Report and for obtaining written permissions from publishers or persons who 213—Research for Public Transit: New Directions, published in 1987 own the copyright to any previously published or copyrighted material and based on a study sponsored by the Federal Transit Administra- used herein. tion (FTA). A report by the American Public Transportation Associa- Cooperative Research Programs (CRP) grants permission to repro- tion (APTA), Transportation 2000, also recognized the need for local, duce material in this publication