Freedom Card

Freedom Card
Location Philadelphia and South Jersey
Technology
Manager PATCO
Currency US $
Stored-value Pay as you go
Credit expiry 10 years (balance transferrable)
Auto recharge Autoload replenishment
Validity
Retailed
  • Service Centers
  • Stations (paper card vending machines)
Variants
  • Reduced Fare Program (seniors, disabled)
Website http://www.PatcoFreedomCard.org/

The Freedom Card is a contactless smartcard fare collection system used by PATCO Speedline in New Jersey and Philadelphia.

Technology

The chip embedded in the card is a MIFARE DESFire EV1 with 4kb of storage, manufactured by NXP Semiconductors. Because it uses a common communication standard, the card serial number and manufacturing date can be read by modern smartphones that advertise support for near field communication. Balance/trip data stored on the card is encrypted and cannot be read by non-PATCO equipment.

When entering a station, cardholders are required to tap their card at the fare gate to gain access to the boarding area. To exit, cardholders are required to tap their card again at their destination. The system immediately calculates the total fare and subtracts it from the balance of the card. If the card has insufficient funds to pay for the fare, the rider will be prompted to visit a vending machine behind the gate to reload value on the card before being allowed to exit.

External links


This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 6/26/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.