Ministry of Transportation of Ontario has for many years promoted and supported new technologies that can improve operation of Ontario transit. In 1991 ministry sponsored an implementation of a smart card fare collection system in Ajax, a small town east of Toronto. In 1995 a similar, but greatly improved system was installed in Burlington, west of Toronto, while Ajax was simultaneously retrofitted. A contactless, credit card sized smart card, called ComboCard, works in both locations. Both systems work very well, and while relatively small, are quite advanced. The following paper describes both systems and their operation, including fare schemes, reports etc. It concludes that smart card technology has great future not only in public transit but also in many other related transportation applications. (A*)
Samenvatting