Monterey-Salinas Becomes First in the Nation to Provide Senior Discounts with Open Payments
On September 1st, 2022, Monterey-Salinas Transit (MST) announced that senior discounts on bus fares would now be available when using a contactless debit or credit card (such as a Visa card or Mastercard) to pay for fares on fixed-route MST buses.
This addition will make it easier than ever for senior riders to ride MST buses at a discounted rate using convenient payment methods they already have. It lays the groundwork for the addition of future discounts to this groundbreaking program, and can serve as a model for similar improvements in the Bay Area and beyond.
The senior discount program is being delivered via a partnership with the California Integrated Travel Project (Cal-ITP) and is an initiative of the California State Transportation Authority (CalSTA) and Caltrans to enable easy and accessible travel planning and payments in California.
How seniors can use this program
MST announced that any adult aged 65 or over with a state-issued ID from California or any other state can now have their discount instantly verified and linked to a contactless Visa or MasterCard.
In order to qualify, riders who are age 65 or over need to create an account using the login.gov website, a secure sign-in service used by the public to sign in to participating government agencies. In order to complete the application, seniors need to provide a driver's license or state-issued ID, a social security number, and a phone number with a plan associated in your name. The whole process takes only a few minutes from start to finish, with the website walking users through the steps. Accessible instructions are available in Spanish in addition to English.
Alternatively, the rider can apply starting on the Cal-ITP benefits page, which provides detailed instructions on how to create a login.gov account.
If the rider does not yet have a contactless Visa or Mastercard, they can contact their bank to request an upgrade of an existing credit or debit card, or use a contactless prepaid debit card such as the Visa Cash App Card.
The discount is instantly applied every time the rider taps to ride with that contactless card on any MST fixed route bus.
Why this is important
The ability to pay for transit using contactless credit and debit cards that people already have provides a massive convenience for transit riders. However, until now, people who used credit/debit cards to pay for transit were unable to get access to discounts that they qualified for.
It is challenging for agencies to provide access to discounts when a rider uses a credit or debit card, because storing credit/debit card numbers can create privacy and security risks, and the process to register a card can be complicated and intimidating for people to use.
Cal-ITP is developing solutions to provide access to discounts in ways that protect the user’s privacy and security, and do so in a way that is easy to use.
Cal-ITP partnership
The senior discount being provided by Monterey Salinas Transit builds on the partnership with Cal-ITP to provide convenient payment options.
On May 11, 2021, MST became the first public transit agency in California to implement an open fare payment option. With contactless readers installed at the front of every MST fixed route bus, riders gained the ability to use a credit, debit, or prepaid card to quickly and efficiently pay for bus fares.
Who’s Next - Medicare card holders and college students
MST has announced in a press release that they are currently working with Cal-ITP to enable riders using debit/credit cards to pay for transit with other types of discounts “for students, veterans, people with disabilities, low-income residents, and others who are eligible for transit discounts.” While MST and Cal-ITP haven’t formally announced which additional discounts they’re currently developing, Michelle Overmeyer, director of planning/innovation for MST, reported that they are currently working on adding discounts for Medicare card holders and college students. There is no timeline yet for the implementation of these discount categories, but it is still exciting to hear that many more riders will have access to contactless discounted fares on the MST system in the future.
As the first in the nation to implement automatic senior discounts for contactless fares, Monterey-Salinas Transit has laid the groundwork for transit agencies across the US to follow suit.
Open Payments and Fare Capping
For riders who pay with their credit/debit cards, MST implemented a new fare capping policy, where riders pay per trip, but cannot be charged more than $10 per day, $50 per 7 days, and $95 per 31 days for trips taken on MST buses. This policy helps make transit more affordable for frequent users, without having to pay up front for a transit pass.
MST also offers a GoCard payment card, which is similar to the Clipper Card in the Bay Area. Riders can add funds to the card to pay for transit. However, the fare cap only applies to trips taken with a single credit/debit card. Fares paid with a GoCard or cash do not count toward the fare cap. https://mst.org/fares/gocard/
How this might benefit the Bay Area
For two decades, since getting started with a pilot in 2002, the Bay Area has used the Clipper system to provide cashless payment for public transportation. Creating the Clipper payment system was especially important in the Bay Area, since our transit system is fragmented with 27 operators. Clipper payment is now available on 24 of the 27 agencies in the region.
In 2023, the Bay Area plans to roll out the next generation Clipper system. This next-generation system will increase convenience for riders in a variety of ways, including support for open payments - the ability to pay with a credit/debit card.
However, when Clipper 2 rolls out, riders who take advantage of this open payment feature will not be able get the discounted fares they are eligible for, such as senior or student discounts. To get the senior or student discounts, riders will still need to use their blue Clipper Card or Clipper Mobile App.
If the CaI-ITP/MST senior discount program is successful, the Bay Area Clipper Program would have the potential to add this capability as a feature of the Clipper system.
This would be helpful - once Clipper 2.0 rolls out with the ability to pay with a credit/debit card, riders are likely to expect to be able to get access to the discounts they are eligible for, regardless of which payment method they use.
So we’ll be closely watching the MST program to see if it is successful and could potentially benefit Bay Area transit riders.
