Metro Rail goes digital, but for some, the free ride is about to end

By Charlie Specht | Buffalo News

BUFFALO, N.Y. — Metro Rail is going digital this week as transit officials unveil a project years in the making to modernize the payment system on Buffalo's subway.

But beware: If you're accustomed to illegally riding the rails in outlying areas of the city without paying, the free ride is officially over.

The Niagara Frontier Transportation Authority on Wednesday, for the first time since the light rail system was opened nearly 40 years ago, will activate new fare gates for all areas except the above-ground "free fare zone" downtown.

Previously, riders were required to buy tickets for the underground portions but essentially operated on the honor system. There were no gates preventing people from riding without a ticket, though the transit agency sent ticket inspectors to spot-check train passengers on a random basis.

Those inspectors — their old jobs now obsolete — will be repurposed as "transit ambassadors" who help straphangers navigate the new digital payment system, which has been dubbed "MetGo."

"What they are doing is making sure you have the right fare on your MetGo card to be able to get in and out of the system," said James Morrell, director of public transit for the NFTA.

The MetGo payment system will also for the first time allow transit riders on trains and buses to use credit cards to load payments onto their smartphones.

"It's very similar to a reloadable gift card and the (E-ZPass) that you have in your car," Morrell said. "As you go through, it will suck money off your card and then once you don't have any more, it will say, 'Hey, you don't have any more.' "

The new gates will also prevent riders who board Metro Rail downtown — where payment is not required — and who disembark at below-ground stations requiring payment from leaving without paying.

The agency has been slowly rolling out the new gates for months, but they have not required payment until now. The MetGo system also has been in use on Metro buses and has freed up bus drivers from manually taking payment for monthly passes, speeding up trips and reducing delays, Morrell said.

Paying cash will still be an option, officials said, but transit planners say the digital format will allow them to collect real-time data on transit usage instead of relying on estimates. Day passes will no longer be sold on the bus because riders will be able to use stored value on their MetGo accounts, which can be accessed on any computer or smartphone.

The change will benefit low-income riders by capping costs at $5 per day and eliminating the need for people to go downtown to purchase a monthly pass for $75, officials said.

"That's good for our passengers that are transit dependent, more than likely low-income, and it allows them to get the value of the day pass, the weekly pass, the monthly pass, without putting all that money right up front," Morrell said.

Transit systems in New York City, Washington, D.C., and most other American cities have already made the switch to digital, Morrell said.

"We've had this system in place for 35-plus years and individuals are accustomed to doing things a certain way," he said. "But they're going to find that, 'Wow, I don't have to go downtown to buy a monthly pass. I just put value on it and I just keep using it.' That's something that, once it comes into play, our passengers will really appreciate it."

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