Skip to main content

Fare capping comes to LA Metro

Cubic Transportation Systems provides the technology for daily and weekly limits
By Adam Hill July 25, 2023 Read time: 2 mins
Daily fare cap is $5; weekly is $18 (© ITS International | Adam Hill)

Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (Metro) has launched fare capping using Cubic Transportation Systems’ technology. 

Riders can now use their Tap card to pay per ride until they hit a daily fare cap of $5 or a seven-day fare cap of $18 - it is free to use for the remainder of those respective periods when the limits are reached. 

Customers can pre-load Tap or the mobile app and pay as they go acrosss bus, rail and Metro Micro, rather than buying passes up front. 

Tap links 26 transit agencies across the Los Angeles area and Metro says there are over 25 million active accounts across the network. 

“Cubic’s long-standing partnership with Metro has been a collaborative effort from the very beginning, focused on bringing simpler journeys and ways to pay – as well as a better overall rider experience – to the people of Los Angeles,” said Matt Newsome, SVP and GM, Cubic Transportation Systems. 

Fare capping "will not only provide financial relief but drive equity and encourage public transportation adoption in the region", he added.

Los Angeles will host matches at the 2026 FIFA World Cup and is host for the 2028 Summer Olympics and says fare capping "will make transit the most affordable and sustainable option for attendees", thus helping to reduce congestion.

Metro sr. executive officer David Sutton said the agency was "eager to see how this latest innovation will attract more customers to our transit system and incentivise our cash customers to try Tap"

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Meeting the challenges of smartcard fare payment
    July 4, 2012
    David Crawford monitors a growing trend in contactless smartcard ticketing The north east United States has become a hive of activity in the smart fare payment arena. In October 2011, the New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) published, as a preliminary to an imminent procurement process, the detailed concept of its New Fare Payment System (NFPS). Based on open payment industry standards, this is designed to be implemented on all MTA bus and subway services operated by New York City Transit (
  • Washington enables contactless travel 
    June 17, 2021
    SmarTrip in Google Pay involves Cubic Transportation Systems and NXP Semiconductors
  • How public transit improves quality of life
    June 29, 2022
    There are various reasons why Mobility as a Service is catching on more in Europe than the US – but there are still other ways in which access to mobility can be improved across the states, finds Gordon Feller
  • CTS applies 'Netflix model' to MaaS
    January 29, 2021
    Umo travel solutions include multimodal app and fare collection platform