ITS Projects Book January 2003


Project Title:   DELAWARE SMART CARD
     
Project Status:   In Progress
     
Project Type:   Other
     
Project Description:   This project is now a component of the Delaware Valley Multimodal Electronic Payments System Demonstration Program, managed by Delaware DOT, and begun in June, 2001. The project, formerly known as Wilmington, Delaware Smart Dart, initially was designed to operationally test smart card technology in a transit application in Wilmington, Delaware. A smart card fare collection system was to be developed for the Wilmington bus fleet. An Employee Commute Option (ECO) program was to be created that allowed employers to provide transit benefits through the smart card system which facilitates the administration of transit benefits. The ECO program was developed as a response to the Clean Air Act of 1992, and the program was intended to allow participating employers to qualify for the tax credits based on the level of employee participation in the program. The smart card was to be issued by a local bank as part of a larger pilot program testing an open-system stored-value bankcard. The project, under this initial design was not initiated. The project has been expanded to encompass the phased multimodal implementation of an electronic payment system (EPS) in the Delaware Valley Region (Philadelphia-Wilmington-Dover) to create a seamless transportation payment network. The initial phase will introduce smart card use on the DART First State transit system.
     
Project Location:   Delaware Valley Region
     
Project Partner(s):   FTA, Delaware DOT, Delaware Authority for Regional Transit (DART) First State, Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA)
     
Project Start Date:   July 1994
     
Project End Date:   January 2004
     
Estimated Total ITS Funds:   $1,191,424
     
Estimated Total Project Cost:   $2,179,155

Project Contacts:    
     
Sean Ricketson
FTA Headquarters, TRI-11
(202) 366-6678
Ext.
Robert Uggla
Edwards and Kelcey
(610) 701-7000
Ext.



U.S. Department of Transportation, Intelligent Transportation Systems