In message , at
21:46:42 on Mon, 30 Jan 2012, Glen Labah remarked:
I don't know what a transit system would do if it simply sold unlimited
ride passes with no credit bank to debit from. Does anyone know of
an example? In Chicago, one type of CTA Cubic fare media, Chicago Card Plus,
can be used for both single trips and monthly passes. It's linked to a
credit card. The monthly pass is applied to the card after debiting the
fee from the credit bank, and can also be used at the same time to pay the
single fare for accompanying passengers, although just one pass can be
encoded on it at a time.

The ORCA card in use in the Puget Sound area does not necessarily have
to be linked to a credit card. Cards that do not have a registered
owner can only be recharged from a vending machine or transit agency
office rather than through the web site.

The same is true of London's Oyster, although more recently they have
added an "auto-topup" facility when the stored credit falls below £8.

I've also got a bus smartcard, which simply has stored credit measured
in "days" (and can only be topped up at a particular travel centre),
where I can have unlimited travel on any day that I use it. But I don't
have to use it every day (like I would a conventional season ticket,
which are of course widely available for train and bus on smartcard). In
some cities that would be called a carnet (of day-tickets).

http://www.nctx.co.uk/nct-fares/easy...ider-citycard-
anytime-adult/

I don't buy it for the discount, as much as not having to find the exact
change to ride on the bus when paying the driver.
--
Roland Perry