CharmCard Enters Regional Testing Phase

http://www.wbaltv.com/video/23006580/

The video is from WBAL, hope you enjoy!

The CharmCard, MTA Maryland's new smart card is now entering the second phase of its testing. Phase I included tests on the Metro Subway, with Phase II adding the Bus lines and the WMATA services. This phase will run through June, and ideally the Light Rail will be brought on in later testing. The kinks of woring the new CharmCard with the Light Rail has not been worked out.

Other systems that use proof-of-payment riding like the Light Rail, that already have smart cards use different types of technology to collect fares. Some lines have Fare readers on the platforms that riders pust "tap" their card to before getting onto the train. Others have these fare readers onboard where riders tap on their way on and off. In both cases Fare Inspectors carry hand-held readers to confirm if riders' cards are valid. This is potentially what MTA Maryland will have to do.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

When Club One was the House of Welsh

Image
 House of Welsh in 1943. Note the Guilford Elevated streetcar line. At one time, what was 301 Guilford Avenue (at some point over time the address was switched to 300 E. Saratoga St) was called the House of Welsh a long time Baltimore steakhouse and restaurant. Originally opened in 1900 it occupied the corner buildings for 98 years. A 1998 article in The Baltimore Sun details the history of the House of Welsh on the eve of its closure. With the demolition of these three buildings yesterday marks the end of some of the oldest houses that stood near downtown. The houses were build in the 1830s, some of the only other houses of the same period were on St. Paul Street and were demolished to make way for the new Mercy Medical Center tower. Inside these buildings make have taken place some of the more little known, but nonetheless interesting stories in Baltimore's history. In 1904, at the height of the Great Baltimore Fire, a telegraph line was hooked up inside the building
Read more

Getting Back into the Groove of Blogging about Baltimore

I took a four-year hiatus from posting anything here on the Baltimore Skyline blog for a lot of reasons. Part of it was pure laziness; I decided to post some things directly to the Facebook page instead, but even then I sort of just stopped doing that in 2017.  A big part of it was that I no longer worked in Baltimore starting in 2013, and I honestly did not get the chance to get out and take photos of what was going on around town. The family grew, work changed, etc., so the hours in the day seemed to be mostly full. Little time to dive into news, development projects, openings and closings. The funny thing is that with a growing family, I actually did get out to a lot of fun kid-friend events - trips to the Zoo, Science Center, Patterson Park, B&O museum, and so on - but I was more invested in who I was there with than anything else. When I wrote less about Baltimore, it became harder and harder to get back into it. After blogging for, at that point, over 7 years I found it cha
Read more

The Rotunda

Image
photo by CB Maryland Casualty Insurance Co. circa 1920-1930 (photo by MdHS) The Rotunda :   Originally built for the Maryland Casualty Insurance Co. in 1920-1921. Later converted to offices, a mall, and longtime home of the Rotunda Cinematheque. Renovated again into a mixed-use space with retail on the ground floor along with the ICON Residences at the Rotunda which opened in 2016.  MdHS photos: https://mdhsphotographs.tumblr.com/post/26843707551/maryland-casualty-company-building-701-west-40th
Read more