Cape County Transit taxis to accept cards beginning Monday

Passengers will find it easier to pay for Cape Girardeau County Transit Authority (CTA) taxi rides now that they can pay with credit or debit cards.

The authority has installed computer tablets and card readers in its vehicles.

The tablets were installed in 40 CTA vehicles about three months ago, and the card readers have been tested for about a week now, said Steve Colbert, CTA operations manager.

"According to my drivers, the customers are elated," he said.

The CTA officially will begin accepting credit and debit cards as payment Monday, said Tom Mogelnicki, CTA executive director.

In the past, customers had to pay cash or have some type of company charge account to pay for the on-demand rides, CTA officials said.

Mogelnicki said consumers increasingly rely on credit and debit cards to pay for services.

"It is the way of the future," he said.

Mogelnicki said credit and debit cards will not be accepted on the CTA's fixed-route bus system in Cape Girardeau. Bus riders pay fares of $1 to $2 in cash, he said.

Taxi fares are higher. They range from $6 to $16 within Cape Girardeau County.

"Once we get out of the county, we charge by the mile," Mogelnicki said.

About 85 percent of the taxi rides occur within the county, he said.

AT&T donated the $300 tablets, which also allow for push-to-talk communication between dispatchers and drivers, Mogelnicki said.

The move eliminates the old analog two-way radios and improves communication, he added.

The tablets also allow drivers to pull up street maps.

With the tablet technology, staff at CTA headquarters at 937 Broadway can track the location of the transit vehicles, Mogelnicki said.

He said AT&T provided the tablets to CTA to test the technology.

The communications company plans to make a video of the CTA tablets system as a way to market the technology, he said.

The CTA also has installed a security-camera system in its vehicles that records images and sound, Mogelnicki said. The vehicles also are equipped with an external camera.

Colbert said the CTA has been "working with them for the past six months."

The security system cost about $32,000, which was paid for by a federal grant, CTA officials said.

The security system aids in safety for passengers and drivers, Mogelnicki and Colbert said.

"We don't have liability issues anymore," Colbert said.

mbliss@semissourian.com

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