Riders on NJ Transit’s three light rail lines finally will be able to do what others on bus and rail lines have been able to do for years: buy tickets with a smartphone app and ditch paper tickets.
The ability to buy single and round-trip light rail tickets was quietly rolled out last week in an upgrade of the app, ending five years of waiting. Smartphone ticket sales are available on Hudson-Bergen, the River Line and Newark Light rail.
The news might not have riders singing “At Last” like Etta James, but it ends the frustrating ritual of time stamping a paper ticket in one machine after buying it from a different vending machine. Up to now, only monthly tickets could be purchased using the app.
Forgetting to “validate” the ticket carries the same $75 fine that fare evasion does, even though the passenger has a ticket. Transit advocates unsuccessfully lobbied NJ Transit in 2017 to reduce the penalty for customers who have a ticket, but forget to validate it. Commuter advocates wanted lower fines for riders with non-validated tickets.
Unlike NJ Transit buses and commuter rail, where tickets are checked by the driver or a conductor, light rail passengers are on a pseudo-honor system and have to show a time-stamped paper ticket or a monthly pass to a roving fare enforcement officer when requested.
While an agency press release said tickets for all three lines can be purchased, a check of the app on Tuesday afternoon revealed no option to buy tickets for the River Line. But that happens if you have a North Jersey zip code associated with your account, said Jim Smith, an NJ Transit spokesman
“River Line single-ride tickets are available on the mobile app. Customers who register with the app using South Jersey zip codes will see River Line purchasing options,” he said. “We will be updating the mobile app next month to allow all customers to purchase tickets for all three light rail systems.”
The change gives light rail riders the same convenience bus riders have enjoyed since early 2017, to buy a single ride ticket with a few taps on a smartphone, instead of fumbling with coins and dollar bills.
Light rail smartphone tickets become valid for travel starting three minutes after activation. Tickets have a different lifespan depending on which line passengers are riding on.
Activated tickets expire after 60 minutes on the Hudson-Bergen and Newark Light Rail, and after 75 minutes on the River Line, officials said.
In the near future, light rail validation devices could use the same new technology currently being tested on several bus routes, officials said in a February interview. That work is part of a $114 million contract with Conduent Transport Solutions, hired in December 2017 to upgrade NJ Transit’s fare collection system.
NJ Transit is testing similar scanners that light rail riders would use to “validate” their ticket on buses in Morris County that would help bring e-ticketing to NJ Transit’s three light rail lines. Ultimately, light rail riders could tap an enabled credit or debit card on a reader and go, similar to what NYC subway riders now do.
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Larry Higgs may be reached at lhiggs@njadvancemedia.com.
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July 29, 2020 at 01:00AM
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