CAMDEN, N.J. (KYW Newsradio) — PATCO is phasing out its Freedom fare cards this summer, and shifting to contactless fare payment.
Under the new system, riders on riders on the PATCO High-Speed Line should be able to tap their chip-enabled credit cards, or use Google Pay or Apple Pay to pay their fares. This follows SEPTA’s pivot to contactless payment in September of 2023.
The Freedom card, PATCO's fare card since 2007, will be phased out starting this summer. “In June or July of this year, our customers will start to see the fare gates be able to accept contactless payment,” PATCO General Manager John Rink told KYW Newsradio.
“They would just hold their cell phone over that, or their contactless credit card,” he said, “and that will accept payment and allow them through the fare gate.”
Under a $17 million contract with Cubic Transportation Systems, Rink said new tap-and-go validators will be installed next to existing fare gates. Riders can still use their Freedom cards until they exhaust their balance, but by November, new ticket vending machines should be installed.
“As part of this system, the paper ticket will disappear and those buying the single or round-trip ticket will actually have a plastic card, a disposable ticket which they will also tap at the fare gate,” Rink explained, adding that occasional riders will buy those single-ride or round-trip tickets from new machines that dispense dollar bills, instead of $1 coins.
“The new machines will have bill recyclers in it, so the standard of putting a $20 bill in and getting 13 Susan B. Anthony coins will be no more.”
PATCO will continue to use a card-based system for its reduced fare program and for riders who receive transit benefits from their employer, according to Rink. Cubic is currently working on software for the new fare system.