The long-delayed replacement of Pittsburgh Regional Transit’s ConnectCard payment system will begin early next year.
The new card, known as ReadyFare, will allow customers to do all their transit applications on one card linked to one account because the new system will be web-based rather than electronic like ConnectCard. Purchases or deposits to the ReadyFare account should be available immediately instead of riders experiencing delays of two days or more with ConnectCard.
Jim Ritchie, the agency’s chief communications officer, told the technology committee Thursday a robust campaign will begin before the end of the year to notify ConnectCard holders that they should switch from their current card to the new one. There are about 150,000 active ConnectCard users whom PRT will reach out to by mail starting before the end of the year with instructions on how to switch to the new card, Ritchie said.
The agency tried to make the transition from one card to the other easy for riders to do from home, but Ritchie said riders can call the agency’s customer service center for help to walk them through the process. The agency’s buses and light rail vehicles could use both payment systems for six months or more before ConnectCards are shut off, Ritchie said.
“It’s not something happening overnight,” Ritchie said. “It’s not like on a dime you will be locked out. But at some point, you are going to hit a wall and have to use ReadyFare.”
Other advantages for the new card are that multiple riders can use one account, customers using the mobile phone app won’t need a separate account, and riders can use their credit card to pay fares. All buses and light rail vehicles have had devices known as validators installed to read the new cards.
Eventually, riders will be able to use ReadyFare in the agency’s vending machines at transit stops, but not all the new machines will be in place when the agency starts using the new cards.
“It is an enhancement for our customers,” Ritchie said. “Times have changed, and technology is wonderful. We think this should be an opportunity to entice people to start using public transit.”
The new cards will complete the transition to the web-based system that PRT began in 2019 with the $2.85 million purchase of the Ready2Ride validator system from Masabi Corp. That initially was used to establish the mobile payment system, but the same readers will be used for ReadyFare.
The agency had hoped to begin using the system earlier this year, but it faced delays in obtaining a trademark for the name of the new card and in purchasing 76 new vending machines at a cost of $8.8 million to sell PRT ticket products. Some machines still haven’t arrived, but the agency is ready to introduce the new cards early next year.
“You’ll hear a lot about this over the next few months,” Ritchie said.
Ed covers transportation at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, but he’s currently on strike. Email him at eblazina@unionprogress.com.