Even though Trimet is seriously late to the party (by almost a decade or more in some ways) with the Hop Fastness, let’s talk about why this is actually a good thing for the area. First, the issues with this form of payment.

Almost every major city in on the west coast has had a card payment system of this type for years now. They however didn’t just magically turn their payment systems on and install things to swipe them on and have them work. Oh no, there are long and storied tales of corruption, delay, and massive failure before they all became successful.

Here’s a few things to read up on ORCA, that’ll give you the lowdown on the many issues the Seattle area transit services fought through.

• https://www.reddit.com/r/Seattle/comments/3jziga/why_does_a_techforward_city_like_seattle_utilize/
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ORCA_card

…and for some serious stories, a little searching and you’ll find a whole host of catastrophe associated with Clipper Card implementation in the Seattle area.

• http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/09/us/09bcjames.html?_r=0
• http://sfist.com/2010/08/02/a_word_about_the_clipper_cards_and.php
• https://www.quora.com/What-is-the-transit-authoritys-perception-of-Clipper
• https://www.baycitizen.org/columns/scott-james/clipper-card-hits-headwinds/
• https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4555767

Even Yelp has threads on the matter of Clipper Cards!!!

• http://www.yelp.com/topic/san-francisco-clipper-card-nightmares

Here’s the Wikipedia article on Clipper Card.

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clipper_card

Los Angeles also has a card, but that’s enough of that. You get the idea, simply put there has been massive issues implementing and getting these interagency cards enabled. Fortunately they’ve done all the research and fought the battles. So hopefully when the Hop Fastpass is put into service Trimet will have a well oiled service offering come online. If Trimet does run into a few minor bumps, just keep in mind the colossal issues the other agencies on the west coast have had!

When I read the recent post on the Trimet Blog I do get excited about the simplified approach to paying fare. In all seriousness, this is the ideal way to handle payments. The card just keeps a certain amount on it, there’s a daily limit, and it just automatically rings up some more funds if it runs low. That way you don’t have to ever fiddle with transfers, reloading cards, fiddling with a phone that has a dying battery, or carrying around a paper ticket that expires! This can really save everybody a ton of time.

There are many other things that this card will enable, and I am looking forward to it. May my sleuthing become even easier and everybody’s fare paying become seamless! 😉