APTA 2010 Fare Collection Workshop
San Diego, California
March 30, 2010
Automated Ticket Validation for
the Capitol Corridor Trains
Presented by:
John Wright
Project Services Manager,
CCJPA
What is Capitol Corridor?
• 170-mile passenger rail service connecting Sierra
Foothills, Sacramento, the San Francisco Bay Area
and Silicon Valley/San Jose
• Service Plan
– Operate 32 trains Mon. – Fri.
– Operate 22 trains Sat., Sun. and Holidays
– Connecting buses to Reno, South Lake Tahoe,
Monterey, Santa Cruz, Santa Barbara
• Partnership among CCJPA, Caltrans, Amtrak, and
Union Pacific
What is the CCJPA?
• Management team overseeing the service
–
–
–
–
–
•
Service Levels/Performance Standards
Funding Agreements
Fare policy
Station/Equipment cleanliness
Customer Service
Partnership among six local transit agencies in the 8county service area
– BART provides administrative staff
– Coordination with other member agency staff
• 16 Board of Directors: 2 from each of the 8 member
counties
YOLO
(YCTD)
2
SACRAMENTO
(SAC RT)
2
PLACER
(PCTPA)
2
CONTRA
COSTA
(BART)
2
SOLANO
(STA)
2
SAN
FRANCISCO
(BART)
2
ALAMEDA
(BART)
2
SANTA
CLARA
(VTA)
2
CCJPA BOARD
16 MEMBERS
(NO EMPLOYEES)
LOCAL
COMMUNITIES
STATIONS &
PARKING
SCG
MEMBER
AGENCY STAFF
TRAIN OPERATIONS
FUNDING
BT&H
W/CALTRANS RAIL
$23MM
ANNUAL FUND
CONTRACT
•FINANCE
•OPERATIONS
•ENGINEERING
•MECHANICAL
•MARKETING
_____________
•PLANNING
•ACCOUNTING
BART
CAPITOL CORRIDOR
EXECUTIVE OFFICE
RAILROAD
OWNER
AMTRAK
ANNUAL OPERATIONS
CONTRACT
CONTRACTS FOR ACCESS &
TRACK IMPROVEMENTS
UNION PACIFIC
RAILROAD
•NUMBER OF TRAINS
•CAPACITY, SPEED,
RELIABILITY
A) CREWS & STATIONS
B) MAINT. OF
ROLLING STOCK
($35MM)
•LIAISON WITH RIDERS
•BUSINESS GROUPS
•LEGISLATIVE MONITORING
•FEDERAL LEGISLATURES
•AMTRAK
•FRA
Capitol Corridor: Quick Facts
• Capitol Corridor is:
– 3rd busiest Amtrak route
– Consistently #1 in the nation in Amtrak customer satisfaction
• Capitol Corridor removes 112,000,000 annual VMTs from
the State’s Northern California highway system
– Reduce greenhouse gasses
– Reduce highway capacity/reduces road maintenance costs
– Provide joint program with freight rail to facilitate goods movement
• Success is shared with service partners: CCJPA member
agencies, Caltrans, Union Pacific, & Amtrak
A Track Record of Performance
TEN YEARS OF CCJPA MANAGEMENT
CAPITOL CORRIDOR PERFORMANCE SUMMARY
FY 2008
(PRE-CCJPA)
FY 1998
FY ’98 -’08 Ten Year
Improvement
Service Level
Ridership
Revenue
Revenue To
Cost Ratio
32 daily trains
1,694,000
$23.4 million
53%
8 daily trains
462,000
$6.25 million
30%
300%
270%
274%
77%
On-time service delivery to riders: varies 86%-90%
Use of Technology to Improve Service Performance
•
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•
Maximize operating efficiencies
Retain/attract riders and improve revenue
Improve safety/security measures
Satisfy environmental objectives/goals (AB 32,
reduce greenhouse gas emissions)
• Minimize paperwork (Green Focus)
ATV Project Introduction
• History
– Upgrade antiquated railroad seat check process
– Improve credit card processing
– Meet today’s business requirements (speed,
automation, efficiencies)
• Benefits
– Efficient revenue management
– Real time manifest/targeted marketing
– Real time credit card authorization
– Electronic/digital remittance
ATV Project Schedule
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•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Budget: $1.75M/Funding Sources: CalEMA/CalTrans
Award and NTP date: March 2008
Start Date: March 2008
Design: March 2008 – November 2008
Development: January 2009 – July 2009
Testing Start Date: August 2009
Pilot Program: January 2010
Training: April 2010 – May 2010
Rollout: June 2010 (est.)
Onboard ATV Equipment
The MC75 Motorola Handheld Device and the
Zebra MZ220 Mobile Printer (Bluetooth enabled)
System Integrator/Developer
Demo ATV Functions
• Tariff Book
• Ticket Validation
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
Known Tickets
Unknown Tickets
• Ticket Sales
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Cash Transaction
Credit Card Transaction
• Ridership Matrix

Passenger Count Information
• End-of-Trip Reporting
Tariff Book
 Device retrieves Tariff Book from the Remote Server.
 Conductor views the Tariff Book by selecting Tariff Book from
the Home screen or from the dropdown menu.
 Tariff Book screen shows the off-board and on-board tariff for
a given city-pair, as shown in the next figure.
Tariff Book
Ticket Validation
The ATV validates Amtrak issued tickets via the barcode reader
Conductors can access the ticket validation screen by tapping the
validation menu button on the home screen
Ticket Validation
Ticket Validation
Unknown Tickets – Not Recognized by the system
Sales Support
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System supports one-way ticket sales only.
Accommodates multiple payment options (cash, credit, and money orders).
To begin a ticket sale, the conductor selects the Sales option on the Home screen
The multi-step ticket sale process is quick and user friendly:
I.
II.
III.
IV.
V.
Select origin and destination
Verify passenger ID
Determine fare
Process payment
Print documents
Cash Sales
Cash Transaction
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•
.
ATV accepts three methods of payment: cash, credit card and other.
Transaction can be voided anytime during the ticket purchase process
Cash Sales
The following documents are printed after completion of the transaction:
Sales Receipts
Ticket
Seat Check
Credit Card Sales
Credit Card Transaction
When a credit card is chosen for payment the ATV will display the
following screen.
Credit Card Sales (con’t)
The following documents are printed after
completion of the transaction:
Sales Receipt
Ticket
Seat Check
End-of-Trip Report
Transaction reconciliation is performed
through the End-of-Trip Report feature
Challenges So Far
• Partner Agency Requirements
– Each partner has different needs
– Synchronizing timelines
• Learning Curve
– Leading/Bleeding edge
– First of its kind in the US railroad industry
– Paradigm shift in passenger rail management
Eye to the Future
• Possible Expansion to other CA Intercity Rail Services
• San Joaquins
• Pacific Surfliners
• Potential Future Applications
• Real Time Delay Notifications
• Instant Messaging
• Real Time Safety and Security Monitoring
• Multiple Uses - Radio and Phone
Conclusion
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Technology can improve service performance
Maintain focus on a quality product
Don’t let schedule overtake project objectives
Implement Green Technology
Take successful service into 21st Century
THANK YOU!!