Of course I recognize that but you’re making up numbers without knowing what you’re talking about.

Metro’s annual operating budget is over half a billion dollars. How much are you thinking they are going to spend in ORCA operations and fare collection in one year? Definitely not a hundred million dollars per year which is the amount Metro collects in fares.

It’s hard to tell the total cost of operating ORCA since it’s part of the regular fare collection system. You don’t hire more people to operate ORCA readers. You’d probably hire or more likely train existing shop technicians to repair the electronics which doesn’t cost significantly more. And for administration of the program itself, Metro’s 2010 budget is going to spend $300,000 a year on 3 FTEs.

Unless of course you recognize that the cost of any system wouldn’t be “one-time”, but ongoing.

Where’d you get that number from, Jeff? Multi-billion dollars for a smart card fare system is absurd. ORCA cost $43 million to implement region-wide. Adding readers to rear doors on every Metro bus is budgeted at $5.5 million. Adding more features, fare incentives (to encourage ridership) and significantly expanding the card distribution/reload network and fare enforcement is likely to cost several more million dollars. I’d put the maximum at $100 million, which still seems high for me.

I definitely imagine that investing billions of dollars in a complete conversion to a no-cash system – that would include a massive expansion of the number of machines to dispense the things, customer service reps to distribute the things and process applications, enforcement officers to enforce and deter fare evasions etc. – I’m sure you’re right. After all – all it takes is money.

However – if the goal of going to a no-cash system is to save money and increase other efficiencies – I think the solution is worse than the problem – or at least it would cost a hell of a lot more.

Why do we think it’s good business sense to ask someone to pay for a card BEFORE they get any actual business value for using it?

Also, Oran says they can do “more than us” – I want to clarify that. They can build more miles. They’ll serve fewer people.

We can do it. We can learn. We need the right attitude and the right people. There are numerous good examples from all over the world to draw from. Metro and Sound Transit’s incompetence in getting ORCA done right should not be an excuse.

Cheap paper RFID cards exist so why not use those for tourists and for low-income riders?

I’d also like to see more ticket vending machines that sell tickets good for the various transit services in the area. At the very least every transit center should have some.

Sorry – completely unrealistic and out of touch with the realities of thousands who ride the bus, many of whom are homeless, don’t speak English, and/or literally live from day to day.