Instead of showing IDs or digging through pockets for quarters, students and commuters will soon be able to board the Santa Monica Big Blue Bus by using Transit Access Pass, or TAP, cards.
Starting March, Big Blue Bus officials will install mobile validators in some bus lines so commuters can pay their fares when boarding with cash value on TAP cards, with monthly EZ passes or with Access ID cards. Because of an agreement with the vendor, the validators will be installed at no cost to the City of Santa Monica.
Big Blue Bus officials plan to add the TAP system to its fare product options because they think it will be more convenient for many riders who board multiple transit agencies a day, said Big Blue Bus spokesperson Suja Lowenthal. Riders will still be able to use cash or UCLA Transportation Flash Passes to board buses with the new system.
The new TAP system will initially be tested on the buses which travel on Route 3 to Santa Monica. Officials are hoping to eventually install the system on all Big Blue Buses, though an exact date for the expansion is not set, Lowenthal said.
Some UCLA students said they think the TAP system will encourage them to commute more often, while others said they think the new system will be inconvenient.
Adrienne Joseph, a second-year microbiology, immunology and molecular genetics student, said she rides the Big Blue Bus three to four times each week for recreation or to get to meetings off campus.
“I think (the TAP system) will make it a lot easier for the students since we (won’t) have to scramble for quarters or look for money,” she said. “I would definitely switch to getting the TAP card when that happens.”
Graduate student Mike Hansen, who rides the Big Blue Bus every day, said he thinks the new TAP system will benefit commuters overall, though it will not make much of a difference in how often he rides the bus.
“I don’t like swiping my student ID card. I think the TAP card could be useful. I’ve tapped in other buses before so I know it’s convenient,” he said.
Other students, such as fourth-year biology student Saul Ramirez, said they think the new system could be inconvenient for commuters. Ramirez said he found the system a nuisance when he commuted between UCLA and Compton.
“It requires a re-load every so often, and there are so few TAP stations around UCLA where we’d be able to do that,” he said. “It’s so much trouble to put 50 cents in the card just to ride the bus especially when there are no nearby stations or kiosks.”
Lowenthal said the change should not have a large effect on UCLA students and faculty who use BruinCards paired with a UCLA Transportation Flash Pass because those individuals don’t pay with cash already.
She added that Big Blue Bus officials are hoping to implement a program in the future in which the BruinBill program could be paired with the TAP cards. In the program, UCLA riders would use their TAP cards when boarding the bus, and the system would deduct 50 cents from their TAP cards. This cost would show up on students’ BruinBill accounts.
The overall goal for this project is to get all commuters, including UCLA students and faculty, to eventually use TAP cards, Lowenthal said.