MBTA Debuts Plastic Passes

“You just tap and go.”

That’s what the Massachusetts Bay Transit Authority (MBTA) “Ambassadors” were telling bus and subway riders yesterday morning as they distributed plastic CharlieCards to launch a new ticketing system.

According to MBTA Spokesman Joe Pesaturo, the CharlieCard—a new bus and subway pass that features an embedded microchip with the card’s value–will improve efficiency and revenue collection.

Beginning in January when fares are set to hike, riders who continue using paper CharlieTickets or cash will pay an even higher fare than those using the new pass.

About 300 MBTA Ambassadors sporting green vests passed the cards out all over the city to promote the CharlieCards and explain their use.

“This is very important,” said Jamey Tesler, an MBTA attorney who helped distribute cards at the Harvard Square station. “We’re all doing this so that everyone riding the T knows how this works.”

Unlike the CharlieTickets, which must be inserted into fareboxes, the new CharlieCard just needs to be tapped against a target.

“It’s incredibly easy to get on and off,” said Tesler.

According to Pesaturo, the speedier payment system would improve efficiency, particularly on buses.

“The card has phenomenal aspects for bus customers,” he said. “It’ll expedite the boarding process and allow us to keep the buses running on schedule.”

Some Harvard students and faculty, who rely on the subways and buses to commute, expressed enthusiasm about the new technology.

“We’re way overdue for a system like this,” said Steven D. Rauch, associate professor of otology and laryngology at Harvard Medical School, who received a CharlieCard yesterday. “I’m already convinced.”

Rauch said that he plans to start using the pass as soon as he uses up the rides on his current paper CharlieTicket.

Joseph A. Iovino, a customer service manager for Harvard University Dining Services who relies on public transportation for his commute to work, said that he’d use it every day if it proves to be “more economical and efficient.”

However, Iovino said he harbors some concerns because, “With any new system, it’s going to have its glitches.”

Iovino told The Crimson that he’d been made aware of the CharlieCard’s availability through Harvard’s employee program for pre-tax transit passes.

While some students thought the new CharlieCard was “so cool,” others were still frustrated about the impending fare hike.

“So they’re trying to force you to pay more for subway service that isn’t as good as New York’s?” asked Laura E. Stafford ’07.

MBTA Ambassadors will continue to pass out the card at T stations and bus stops, and plan to be at the Harvard Square station again on Dec. 7, 11, and 14.

Just in time for the upcoming fare hike, the CharlieCard is named after a character in a popular 1950s song who was trapped on the Boston subway because he could not afford to pay the exit fare.