RFID-Enabled Fare Payment Systems ...

4.1 INTEGRATED ELECTRONIC AND AUTOMATED FARE PAYMENT SYSTEMS

... "Fare Systems Based on Passenger Accounts: It would be possible to operate a fare payment system based on the establishment of passenger accounts and the issuance of ID passes to riders. The entrance of passengers would be signaled by use of their pass, which could be a read-only magnetic stripe card, an RFID device, or even a bar code ID card. Passenger use information would be collected every time a passenger entered or exited a transit vehicle or station. The usage information would be processed and passengers would be billed periodically. Distance-based fares could be charged if passengers used their ID passes to indicate end points of trips as well as beginning points. No present or contemplated system employs such a scheme. However, the fare payment system used on Phoenix Transit buses comes close. Phoenix bus users can use their bank-issued credit cards to pay bus fares. In this case, Phoenix Transit relies on the banks to issue cards, keep track of accounts, and bill customers, all for the usual fees charged merchants by credit card companies. "