The C-Tran Board of Directors on Tuesday approved a sweeping electronic fare system that will allow riders to use pre-paid cards and other devices for the first time.
The board authorized a contract with TriMet that will join C-Tran into the e-Fare system that the Portland-area transit agency is already pursuing. The end result will be a shared public transit fare system used across the Portland-Vancouver region. The e-Fare model could begin testing as soon as 2016, with a full roll-out in 2017, according to C-Tran.
The C-Tran board approved the agreement by a 6-3 vote, with Clark County Commissioners David Madore and Tom Mielke and Washougal City Councilor Connie Jo Freeman voting no. Most of the board saw the e-Fare project as a welcome improvement that will give riders more options in a changing landscape.
“I think we have to look to the future,” said Battle Ground City Councilor Bill Ganley.
The electronic fare system would allow riders to use pre-paid transit cards, their own credit cards or mobile phones when they get on a bus. C-Tran and TriMet officials say the upgrade would create a more convenient and efficient way for riders to pay fares.
The upgrade would establish an overlapping system that uses the same technology for C-Tran, TriMet and the Portland Streetcar. The shared setup would make it easier for riders to transfer from one transit system to another, the agencies say.
C-Tran drivers currently accept only cash for fares paid at the door, and they can’t give change back. Riders would still be able to pay cash even after the electronic fare system is in place, according to the agency.
TriMet signed a contract with technology company INIT to develop the system earlier this year, and will pay most of its overall cost. C-Tran will pay $623,000 for equipment, and up to $1.1 million to TriMet to take part. Once the system is operational, C-Tran will pay TriMet up to $46,000 per month, or about $552,000 per year, for the service.
TriMet is the “fiscal agent” for the e-Fare system, meaning those transactions — even for C-Tran customers — will go through a separate TriMet bank account, said C-Tran Chief Financial Officer Diane O’Regan. Revenue is then paid back based on which agency receives those passengers, she said.
Some board members were uneasy about partnering with a TriMet agency beset by debt and financial turmoil. C-Tran should be wary of signing any contract with an agency that has a dubious track record, Madore said. He and others alluded to a different contract that C-Tran and TriMet signed last year related to light rail — an agreement that C-Tran has recently tried to get out of, so far unsuccessfully.
“I think we’re really getting this wrong,” Madore said.
Once signed, the e-Fare contract will remain in effect for seven years, or five years after the system begins operation, whichever is later. The agreement states that the system must launch by Jan. 1, 2020, or C-Tran can terminate the contract.
Though C-Tran expects the e-Fare system to roll out much sooner than that, the agency should expect at least some “bumps and bruises” along the way, O’Regan said. The project is using relatively new technology that’s being tailored for the region, she said.
Mielke and Freeman questioned whether C-Tran should adopt a system that will cost the agency more money in the long run. Ultimately, most board members said yes.
“This is about C-Tran making an investment,”and one that benefits C-Tran riders, said Vancouver City Councilor Jack Burkman.
As for the contract, he added, “I believe we’re adequately protected.”
