ANN ARBOR—A new agreement between the University of Michigan and the Ann Arbor Transportation Authority (AATA) will pave the way for U-M students, faculty and staff to use their Mcard—the University’s smart card—to pay fare on city buses, the U-M has announced. In the first installation of its kind in the United States, AATA buses equipped with smart card readers will deduct the amount of fare from the Mcard CashChip, which is embedded in the card and carries a cash value, says Robert E. Russell, U-M assistant director of financial operations. According to Russell, a summer pilot program will enable Mcard-carriers to use their cards on two AATA bus routes near the medical campus. By early 1997, all AATA routes will honor the Mcard, as well as a similar smart card available to other AATA riders to simplify the fare system.

“This is part of a broader plan by the AATA to utilize information technology to provide state-of-the-art transportation services to their ridership,” Russell says. In addition to the pilot program, Mcard-holders will be able to use their cards on shuttle buses linking outlying parking areas to the city center during the Ann Arbor art fairs in late July, he says. Special-edition Mcards also will be available to fairgoers not affiliated with the U-M.

“We’re pleased to have the partnership with the Ann Arbor Transportation Authority and look forward to the implementation of this leading-edge technology,” Russell says. “It will make the payment of bus fare fast, easy and convenient.” Through a partnership with First of America Bank and by using smart card technology from Schlumberger DANYL, Russell says the U-M has issued more than 32,000 Mcards to students, faculty and staff—making the Mcard program the largest smart card program in the country. Currently, the Mcard is accepted at more than 80 merchant locations on campus and throughout the city of Ann Arbor.

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