Capital Region Business Beat: CDTA Going Smart with 'Navigator'

ALBANY, N.Y. -- Covering four counties and more than 2,300 square miles, the Capital District Transportation Authority (CDTA) has been rolling around the Capital Region for 45 years.

"We have almost 700 employees, operating budget of around $80 million, and there are 2,500 bus stops throughout the region," said CDTA CEO Carm Basile.

CDTA has set records the last two years and saw more than 17 million riders alone last fiscal year.

With around 60,000 riders each day, CDTA introduced a new program called Navigator to make the rider smoother.

"We started back in 1970 with basically cash payment, and that was it. We've advanced through the steps where now you can now you can swipe a ride and pretty soon you'll be able to tap a ride or use your mobile device to pay your fare," Basile said.

Navigator is a state-of-the-art payment system where riders use a preloaded smart card or cell phones to pay a fare.

"It will allow for faster boarding times and overall the time to get from point A to point B on a route will go down and be much faster for riders," said Thomas Guggisberg, CDTA director of information technology.

CDTA is one of the first public transportation companies in the country to use the smart fare technology. It's currently being installed in most CDTA buses and will be tested through the summer before being rolled out company-wide in the fall.

It took CDTA to develop the system, but Guggisberg said will be worth the wait.

"It will give customers incentives to ride by building loyalty so the more you ride, the better your discounts will be," he said.

CDTA also plans more routes and transit centers to be built around the region but most importantly listen to riders.

"People want and need more service, that's a given. We need to respond. There are limits of financial limits that we can do but we won't let that be an excuse so it's up to us to find solutions to provide more service to people," Basile said.

CDTA is currently looking for customers to test Navigator during a pilot program. If you're interested, contact them using their website, www.cdta.org/.

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