Hand-counting Cornell riders on Tompkins Consolidated Area Transit (TCAT) buses is coming to an end this summer. The entire TCAT fleet of 49 buses has been outfitted with electronic card readers that can validate Cornell ID cards and keep better track of ridership trends.

The new card readers were installed earlier this year and are now being tested. The system will eliminate the need for bus drivers to visually verify and count riders with Cornell IDs and will save the cost and distribution of thousands of OmniRide stickers every year.

The card readers scan each Cornell ID card, identifying whether the rider is a faculty member, staff member or student and immediately verifying the time of day and days of the week the card can be used to cover the fare.

On newer Cornell ID cards, the data is read from a proximity chip built into the card (riders will need only to touch the card to the reader) and on older cards, from the card's magnetic strip (riders will need to swipe these cars through the reader).

By the time the system is fully operational -- the target date is Aug. 14 -- each bus will have its database updated daily by the cards, such as which riders participate in the OmniRide program. The electronic system will allow Cornell to offer new privileges, such as covering all student fares evenings after 6 p.m., and all day Saturdays and Sundays ("free nights and weekends").

The testing phase of the system has gone well, said David Lieb, assistant director for public information for Cornell's Office of Transportation and Mail Services.

"It has been a little slower up front as people have had to figure out that they have to use their card and which way they have to use it," he said, but as people get used to the readers, efficiency should quickly improve.

Lieb said riders should not be concerned about privacy issues -- TCAT will only collect the aggregate data (how many riders get on at each stop, whether they are students, staff or faculty and if they are OmniRide participants). "No personal data is being transmitted," he said. "The reader is checking whether or not a particular card is valid at that place and time." If a card is not valid for that rider on that route, the passenger would have to pay the fare.

The data provided by the card readers will give TCAT much better information regarding which types of riders take which bus routes at what times. "It will allow TCAT to improve its service," Lieb said. Cornell currently pays approximately 75 percent of all fares collected by TCAT (the university's contribution totaled about $2.2 million in 2006).

Rick Carnrike, TCAT's controller, said the card readers are a significant step in TCAT's technological development, and installation and testing has been a collaborative effort with Cornell.

Carnrike said TCAT drivers will appreciate riders' patience as the system is made fully operational. "Please have your ID card ready as you are about to board the bus," he said. Riders should also make sure their cards have been successfully read (acknowledged by a "beep" from the reader and a small green light) before proceeding toward a seat.

For more information about the project, see http://www.parking.cornell.edu/tms3_CUID_FAQ-07.html. Once the system is fully operational, Cornell riders will be required to use the card readers with their ID cards for the university to cover the fare.