In this paper, we present a commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) prototype design for a handheld, contactless, smartcard-based unit for the mass transit and regional rail systems. This project is an extension from two senior design project research efforts in the College of Engineering at Temple University which were focused on developing an open architecture design for the regional rails system of the South Eastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA). The goal is to develop a non-proprietary and plug-in-and-play multi-modal transport payment (i.e. cash, credit card, passes, and more importantly the contactless smartcard) portable solution for the financially troubled public transit systems in the United States. Our proposed design utilizes an HP iPAQ hx2795 PDA (Personal Digital Assistant) with Bluetooth capability, an EXTECH S2500THS Bluetooth thermal printer/magnetic card reader, and an SDiD 1010 SD-interface contactless smartcard reader. As a result, the conductor will only need to carry the PDA device for ticket transactions; with the EXTECH s2500ths unit attached to the conductor's belt. The system has been demonstrated with effective applicability, usability and durability for today's transit systems.
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