For some reason, I have a collection of various public transit fare media – mostly smartcards issued by US transit operators.
Take a look:
As part of this, I’m interested in expanding my collection without the money and time commitment of travelling just to get a piece of plastic!
Luckily, a lot of transit operators sell their fare media online, ready to be mailed to your address. But I couldn’t find a list of operators that offer this luxury, so I’m making one.
Note that this list is just for US transit operators, not international ones. Many international operators also sell fare media online, but usually won’t ship outside of their respective country. Also, I didn’t include operators that only sell mobile “passes” to be loaded on a smartphone, since that has approximately zero collectors’ value…
(Mostly from this Wikipedia article https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_public_transport_smart_cards. The vendor Genfare also has many customers selling smartcards on their gfcp.io domain, so a Google search of this domain might surface more results.)
The List: Smartcards
- Regional Transportation District MyRide, Denver, CO – Up to 5 MyRide cards for free, free shipping, wow! https://www.rtdonlinestore.com/product/myride/166
- SoundTransit Orca, Seattle, WA – $3 adult card or free senior/youth card, free shipping. https://www.myorca.com/buy-online/
- METRO Q, Houston, TX – Free adult/senior/youth/college stored value, day pass, or single-use card, free shipping. https://www.metroridestore.org/
- IndyGo MyKey, Indianapolis, IN – $2 fare card, free shipping. https://buy.indygo.net/mykey-fare-card/
- DC Metro SmarTrip, Washington, DC – $2 fare card + must load with at least $8 stored value or day pass, starting at $10, free shipping. https://smartrip.wmata.com/Storefront
- Maryland Transit Administration CharmCard, Baltimore, MD – Free fare card + must load at least $4.60 day pass or stored value, starting at $4.60, free shipping. https://www.mta.maryland.gov/pass-store (these cards are interoperable with SmarTrip!)
- BART/SFMTA Clipper, San Francisco, CA – $3 fare card, fee can be waived by enabling automatic reload at purchase time, free shipping. https://www.clippercard.com/ClipperWeb/get.html
- Chicago Transit Authority Ventra, Chicago, IL – Free fare card + must load at least $5 stored value or day pass, starting at $5, free shipping. https://www.ventrachicago.com/purchase/
- Metro Atlanta RTA Breeze, Atlanta, GA – $2 fare card + must load at least $2.50 stored value or pass, $2 shipping. https://www.breezecard.com/default.aspx
- Central Midlands RTA COMET Card, Columbia, SC – free fare card (?), free shipping. https://catchthecometsc.gov/passes-fares/
- CT Transit GO CT, Connecticut – $2 fare card, free shipping. https://buypasses.storesecured.com/
- The Rapid Wave, Grand Rapids, MI – $3 fare card, free shipping. https://wave.ridetherapid.org/
- Laketran Smart Card, Lake County, OH – $5 fare card + must load at least $25 stored value, starting at $30, free shipping. https://laketran.com/purchase-fares/smart-card/
- LeeTran TropiCard, Lee County, FL – Free fare card (?), free shipping. https://www.mytropicard.com/
- TARC MyTARC, Louisville, KY – $5 fare card + must load at least $3.50 day pass or stored value, starting at $8.50, free shipping. https://mytarc.ridetarc.org/
- Metro Transit Go-To, Twin Cities, MN – Free fare card + must load at least $5 stored value or day pass, starting at $5, free shipping. https://store.metrotransit.org/
- Port Authority Trans-Hudson (PATH) SmartLink, New York, NY – $5 fare card, free shipping. https://www.pathsmartlinkcard.com/fullfare.html
- PalmTran Paradise Pass, Palm Beach, FL – Free fare card + must load at least $5 stored value or pass, starting at $5, free shipping. https://www.myparadisepass.com/efare/store/loadProducts
- Valley Metro Pass, Phoenix, AZ – Free fare card + must load at least $30 (!) stored value or pass + $1.75 service fee, starting at $33.75. I can’t even tell if this is a smartcard, and it definitely doesn’t make me want to use Valley Metro.. https://www.valleymetro.org/fares/online-fare-purchase
- Greater Portland Metro DiriGo TouchPass, Portland, ME – You may be able to request one mailed to you by submitting the contact form here (this option is mentioned in the FAQ): https://dirigopass.org/faqs/. This worked for me!
- GoRaleigh GoCard, Raleigh, NC – Free fare card + must load at least $4.50 (?) pass, $1 shipping. Online ordering is mentioned on this page but I couldn’t find where to order: https://goraleigh.org/goraleigh-fares-passes
- Rhode Island Public Transportation Authority, Providence, RI – $5 fare card, free shipping. Follow the instructions here: https://wave.ripta.com/get-a-card/
- Sacramento Area Council of Governments Connect Card, Sacramento, CA – Free fare card + must load at least $5 stored value (?), free shipping. https://www.connecttransitcard.com/
- Utah Transit Authority Farepay, Salt Lake City, UT – $3 fare card + must load at least $5 stored value, free shipping. https://farepay.rideuta.com/cart/cart.html?purchase=true
- San Diego Metro Transit System PRONTO, San Diego, CA – $2 fare card + must load at least $5 (?) stored value, free shipping. https://www.ridepronto.com/get-a-card/
- Santa Cruz Metro CruzPass, Santa Cruz, CA – Free fare card + must load at least $2 pass, $1.50 shipping. https://scmtd.square.site/s/shop
- Skagit Transit TouchPass, Skagit County, WA – Free fare card (?). Must request using a form linked here https://www.skagittransit.org/tp/
- Spokane Transit Authority Connect, Spokane, WA – Free fare card + must load at least $5 stored value, free shipping. Free reduced fare cards available, but complicated to obtain. https://www.staconnectcard.com/buy-online/
- Miami-Dade Transit EASY Card, Miami, FL – $2 fare card, free shipping. https://transitstore.miamidade.gov/extern/products
- Ventura County Transportation Commission VCbuspass, Ventura County, CA – Free fare card + must load at least $10 stored value, free shipping. https://www.goventura.org/buy-vcbuspass/
- Sunrail SunCard, Orlando, FL – Can’t find fare card pricing… https://account.sunrail.com/ecustomer_enu/
- Metro Bus Smart Ride Card, St Cloud, MN – $3 fare card + must load at least $5 stored value or pass, free shipping. https://smartridecard.com/efare/store/loadProducts
- Milwaukee County Transit System MCARD, Milwaukee, WI – $2 fare card, free shipping. https://mcardonline.ridemcts.com/MCTSWeb/pages/indiv/orderOneCardIV.jsf
- Omaha Metro Umo Card, Omaha, NE – Free fare card + must load at least $5 stored value, free shipping. https://www.ometro.com/fares/purchase-fares/
- CapMetro, Austin, TX – These are traditional passes just sold in smartcard format, starting at $11.25, free shipping. https://buy.capmetro.org/
- Stark Area RTA, Stark County, OH – Free fare card + must load at least $5 stored value or pass, free shipping. https://sarta-prod.gfcp.io/efare/store/loadProducts
The List: Other Fare Media
definitely not complete
- RTA, Cleveland, OH – https://websrvor15.gcrta.org:8000/OA_HTML/ibeCCtpSctDspRte.jsp?section=10023&sitex=10020:51236:US
- Suburban Mobility Authority for Regional Transportation (SMART), Detroit, MI – https://www.smartbus.org/Fares/Buy-Passes/Online-Store
- TheRide, Ann Arbor, MI – https://www.theride.org/fares-passes/buy-online
- City of Madison, Madison, WI – https://www.cityofmadison.com/metro/fares
- Trinity Metro, Fort Worth, TX – https://trinitymetrotickets.org/
- Capital Area Transportation Authority, East Lansing, MI – https://www.cata.org/Fares/Buy-Online/Products
- Metro, Cincinnati, OH – https://www.go-metro.com/fare-information/faresandpasses2/passes-order-page
Notable Omissions…
- Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority Key, Philadelphia, PA (SEPTA Key)
- Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority, Boston, MA (CharlieCard) – I remember CharlieCards were extremely inconvenient to obtain when I visited Boston, requiring a visit to some customer service centers that were only available in a few stations. I’ve heard new TVMs in Boston will offer CharlieCards, though. At least they’re free..
- Metropolitan Transportation Authority, New York, NY (OMNY/MetroCard) – Technically you can order MetroCards online but they must be in the form of a LIRR pass with a MetroCard attached, or in a bulk order of 50+ cards. Not realistic for most people, and I wish the MTA would sell these online.
- Metro, Los Angeles, CA (TAP) – It’s a shame that these aren’t available online given Metro’s extensive collection of TAP card designs. However, reduced fare cards are available online.