You may be familiar with the drill: Get on the bus — or the train — and get out the ticket. The paper one, the one that gets punched (yes, that’s still a thing!) or gets put in the slot to log your fare and is returned to you.
It’s a process that is manual at least in part, and slower than it needs to be.
More likely you are headed to your final destination across a number of methods, with bus, train and possibly even bike in the mix.
If the longest journey begins with a simple step, might the streamlined journey begin with a simple tap of the card?
In Hawaii, we are about to find out.
Late April saw the debut of the HOLO card, used for Oahu Transit, a project in which the cards are to be used across the system’s busses and a rail system being built out over the next several years.
The goal: A continuum of transit, flowing with speed and across payments.
In an interview with PYMNTS, Jon Nouchi, deputy director of the Department of Transportation Services, said the program is in pilot mode, being rolled out over roughly 10 percent of the bus fleet (that 10 percent equates to more than 50 buses). The HOLO card can be loaded with cash via phone or bank account.