Use public transportation? Be smart with new ‘Go Ventura’ smart card

December 26, 2001
Santa Paula News

If you use public transportation it will be smart to get your new smart card, now being sold at Santa Paula City Hall.

Officially called the “Go Ventura” cards, they use state-of-the-art high technology designed to ease the use of public transit. . .and encourage more people to travel by bus by making the process ultra-easy.

By Peggy KellySanta Paula TimesIf you use public transportation it will be smart to get your new smart card, now being sold at Santa Paula City Hall.Officially called the “Go Ventura” cards, they use state-of-the-art high technology designed to ease the use of public transit. . .and encourage more people to travel by bus by making the process ultra-easy.The smart card, actually a mini-computer, is good for all of Ventura County’s 102 public transit routes and offers futuristic benefits: not only does the card automatically deduct the cost of the fare it also can keep track of up to 32 different uses as they are implemented.Ventura County Transportation Executive Director Ginger Gherardi said the cards will be issued to California State University Channel Islands students and eventually be used for book store and other campus purchases.The “Go Ventura” program cost about $1.7 million and is one of the few in the nation implementing a high-tech solution to public transportation. The cards work either as monthly passes that offer unlimited use or as prepaid debit cards that deducts the fare for each trip.
An internal advantage to the card is it will be used as a VCTC planning tool for transportation needs including route additions and subtractions, Gherardi noted.A major advantage to the “Go Ventura” card is it won’t leave you stranded: there is a courtesy ride built-in if you’re out of prepaid spending, said Santa Paula’s Customer Service Supervisor Mary Renner.“We haven’t sold any yet,” as most of Santa Paula’s 50 or so bus pass commuters wait until the end of the month to purchase cards, Renner noted.The city is also supplying literature about the “Go Ventura” program.The VCTC supplied a “new computer and training so we’re all ready to go; we’ll know what to do when the first customer comes in. The first month will take a little longer,” for the commuter to fill out the “Go Ventura” application and the data entered into the computer, Renner added, but thereafter the commuter will “just bring in the card and it will be a lot quicker.”Renner said the “E-Purse” is also an advantage as commuters not requiring a monthly pass will be able to pre-pay any amount for public transit, and the “Go Ventura” card will automatically deduct each ride from the total.



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