Fare capping

, London. Transport for London introduced fare capping for Oyster card users in 2005. Fare capping enables public transport passengers to pay the lowest possible fare for their trips over a period of time. Passengers pay a single-ride fare for each trip they take. Depending on the public transport system, this may be with a proprietary stored-value card, or passengers may use their own credit or debit card. The passenger pays the full fare for each trip within a period, such as a day or a week, until a certain threshold is met. This threshold may be a certain number of trips, or a monetary value. After the threshold is met, all rides for the rest of the period are free or discounted. == History ==

An early implementation of fare capping was launched in 2000 in Groningen, the Netherlands, on Arriva buses. The Tripperpas used contactless smart card technology from Motorola and ERG Group, and introduced a number of new features. The Tripperpas was set up as a line of credit, where passengers were billed for the rides they took at the end of every month. Fare capping on the Tripperpas was advertised as the "best price guarantee," billing passengers for only up to the cost of the equivalent Sterabonnement season ticket. At the conclusion of its 2-year trial, the Tripperpas system was shut down, with only 4,000 cards in use, of the 11,000 cards planned to be issued. The Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority in Washington, D.C. proposed a fare capping program in 2003, shortly after the introduction of the SmarTrip fare card. WMATA concluded that it could implement fare capping on Metrobus services, which charge a flat fare, but that the distance-based fares of the Washington Metro posed a larger challenge. The technology and marketing for Washington Metro fare capping were both deemed to be too complex, and the proposal was abandoned. The first large-scale implementation of fare capping was in 2005, by Transport for London. At its introduction, fare capping in London was available for Oyster card users only, and was valid on local services including the Underground and buses. The price cap for Oyster card users was set at the price of an equivalent one-day, unlimited-ride Travelcard. TfL has expanded its fare capping system since its introduction, adding 7-day caps and contactless bank card support in 2014. In the early 2020s, fare capping has been introduced by the two largest transit agencies in the United States by ridership, the New York MTA and Los Angeles Metro. In New York, a weekly fare cap is available for OMNY and contactless bank card users, for trips on the Subway and most MTA buses. In Los Angeles, a daily and weekly fare cap is available exclusively for TAP card users on Metro Bus and Metro Rail services. == Technology ==

Fare capping takes advantage of the advanced capabilities of automated fare collection systems. Since the first major implementation of fare capping in London in 2005, technology has matured significantly, leading to reduced costs. The Oyster card, the first major implementation of fare capping, uses MIFARE smart cards with proprietary programming. The with equipment connected to proprietary back-office systems. The Oyster card began to support fare capping in 2005, 7 years after the system's initial design began in 1998. In contrast, contemporary payment systems that support fare capping are available as commercial off-the-shelf systems. These systems provide multiple components of an integrated fare payment system, including mobile apps, smart cards, card readers, and payment processing services. Multiple vendors provide these types of systems as white-label products, which have the transport operator's own branding applied. Examples of such systems include Umo by Cubic Transportation Systems, Justride by Masabi, and MOBILEvario by INIT. An example of this technology's maturity is the installation of a new fare system on the Milwaukee County Transit System in Wisconsin, USA. The WisGo payment system, powered by Cubic's Umo, was implemented in under two years, despite delays. == Impacts ==

Fare capping is frequently cited as a method to improve the social equity of transport fares. == References ==