$129.5 million Philadelphia fare system contract awarded to ACS

The Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA) board has voted to award a contract of up to US$129.5 million to ACS Transport Solutions Group for equipment and services for the installation of a modernised fare system under its new payment technologies (NPT) programme.
March 26, 2012 Read time: 2 mins
The 4288 Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA) board has voted to award a contract of up to US$129.5 million to 13 ACS Transport Solutions Group for equipment and services for the installation of a modernised fare system under its new payment technologies (NPT) programme. The scheme will upgrade SEPTA's outdated fare payment and collection system. Current fare instruments such as tokens, paper tickets and magnetic strip passes will be replaced by contactless payment devices.

The NPT installation project will be divided into three phases and work is expected to be completed within three years.

The first phase focuses on design and testing, with implementation following in the second and third phases. NPT will be rolled out first on buses and trolleys, followed by the Market-Frankford and Broad Street lines, and then the Regional Rail system.

For the 90 per cent of SEPTA customers who use buses, trolleys, the Market-Frankford Line and the Broad Street Line, the major change will be moving to a user-friendly fare system. NPT will retain some familiar transit fare elements while adding modern amenities. This includes upgrading fare boxes on buses and trolleys and turnstiles at subway stations to accept contactless payments. Customers will pay fares with a simple "tap" of their contactless device of choice upon entry to vehicles and stations.

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