Claire Van Noy, a senior in finance, always makes a point to tap on and off when she rides the light rail.
“It’s the rules,” she said.
But not all students do.
The Utah Transit Authority performed a study last week to check the flow of riders at U TRAX stations. UTA might install more readers at U stations with heavy traffic, but the transit agency will not have the data evaluations complete until Fall Semester.
UTA asked all U Ed-Pass holders to make sure to tap on and off on Earth Day, said Brandon Bott, UTA spokesman.
“It was a stress test for the electronic fare system,” Bott said. Bott recommended that students keep their UTA passes and credit cards separate. If the reader scans both, the signals will cancel out.
“We’re getting good results from the system overall,” Bott said. Bott said that TRAX officers are equipped with scanners now to check that passes have been tapped.
Jessica Gilmore, a sophomore in architecture, said she rarely taps on and off when she rides TRAX, but she does when she rides the bus.
“I think about it,” Gilmore said. “It’s maybe one out of 10 times.”
Gilmore said that tap on and off is a hassle.
“It’s just because I don’t want to get my wallet out of my bag and when I have my bike,” she said “It’s a good idea. It just doesn’t work.”