http://oaklandliving.wordpress.com/2008/04/18/translink-implement...

http://oaklandliving.wordpress.com/2008/04/18/translink-implementation-delayed-for-bart-muni-caltrain/
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OAKLAND
Prepaid fare card's launch put off again
Rachel Gordon

Friday, April 18, 2008

The long-planned rollout of the TransLink regional fare card has once again been delayed.

The prepaid fare card, which transit leaders hope could one day be used on more than two dozen transit systems, already is accepted on AC Transit and the Golden Gate ferries and buses. But plans for wider use have fallen behind schedule for the three big agencies next in line.

Instead of a spring start date, as last predicted, the Metropolitan Transportation Commission, the regional agency in charge of the TransLink project, has pushed back the estimated start date for the San Francisco Municipal Railway and Caltrain to July 15 and for BART to Sept. 25.

But because of continued problems with software developed by an outside contractor, even those dates might get pushed back, MTC officials warned.

"The finish line keeps getting pushed back. We're not happy," said MTC executive director Steve Heminger.