Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) adds another application
22 June, 2004
category: Contactless, Corporate, Transit
On-Track Innovations Ltd, (OTI) announced today that the San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit District (BART) has extended the use of its BART OTI smart card for its employee security access control applications at BART offices and stations.
With over 300,000 daily riders and 43 stations, BART provides Bay Area residents with a low cost, high frequency, fast and environmentally friendly alternative for their transit needs. BART uses a graded fare structure where people pay based on the length of their trip. In early 2003, BART chose OTI’s ISO 14443 compliant contactless solutions for its San Francisco International Airport (SFO) station discount program, whereby BART provides a discount fare for airline employees who take BART to work. OTI supported BART’s initiative by supplying microprocessor-based contactless smart cards. Eligible airline employees received an OTI contactless RFID microprocessor-based smart identification card encrypted to activate a discounted fare structure for magnetic stripe tickets used for fare payment at the SFO BART Station.
For its access control applications, BART is currently using the OTI smart card for access control to BART offices. In the future, BART plans to replace all existing BART Employee ID cards with OTI smart cards that will be used for both identification and access to BART stations. The scalability of OTI’s technology allowed new applications, like access control, to be added seamlessly after the card is issued.
“Adding applications to smart cards after they have been issued, is a key feature of OTI’s technology, and one of special interest to our customers,” commented Ohad Bashan, President and CEO of OTI America. “BART’s addition of access control to its smart card demonstrates the value of our multi-functional approach and seamless integration capabilities. With businesses wanting optimal value of the cards they distribute, and people wanting to keep the number of cards they have to carry to a minimum, we anticipate continuing growth in the use of our technology.”