Q: I enjoy riding RTD light rail and, with the increasing cost of gas, will ride it more. Why doesn’t RTD allow me to pay for my trip by credit or debit card? Dollar coins as change for a $20 bill is hardly “consumer friendly.”
– Bill Robinson, Englewood
A: The light-rail system that began in 1994 has become more popular as gasoline prices hit the $4 mark.
Unfortunately, the technology available to commuter lines in the 1990s did not include fare machines that could connect to telephone — certainly not wireless — lines for credit-card transactions, according to RTD spokesman Scott Reed.
That’s why you’ll primarily see machines capable of issuing single-ride or round-trip tickets via a cash transaction at RTD stations.
What’s more, the bulk of the 65,796 passenger trips RTD logged in April were paid for with an RTD pass or ticket booklet, not single-ride tickets.
So it makes little economic sense for RTD to spend millions to retrofit stations with new machines to accommodate what amounts to be a small percentage of its ridership.
However, help is available. There are fare machines that accept credit and debit cards at RTD’s Market Street and Civic Center bus stations. But they will only issue a 10-ride ticket or an unlimited daily pass.
Also, the $6.1 billion FasTracks system is being eyeballed for machines that will take credit/debit cards for single rides, subject to the availability of fiber-optic and wireless systems, which is unclear.
David Migoya wants to get the answers to your consumer questions. E-mail consumertips@ denverpost.com or write to Consumer Shopping Bag, The Denver Post, 101 W. Colfax Ave., Suite 600, Denver, CO, 80202.
