NFC TIMES Exclusive Insight – California public bus agency Monterey-Salinas Transit on Tuesday officially launched a six-month “demonstration” project to pilot contactless open-loop payments. While the agency is very small, providing only around 3,500 rides per day last year, the launch holds much greater significance.
That’s because the demo project is backed by the large California Department of Transportation, as part of its California Integrated Travel Project, or Cal-ITP. This initiative aims to help the 300-plus transit agencies serving California’s nearly 40 million residents to make “riding by rail and bus simpler and more cost-effective.” Several more agencies in California, including small ones, are expected to launch open loop as part of this program.