Unwitting college kids waiting for the trolley.

A few months ago, MTS instituted a new payment system for their buses, one that enabled its Pronto machines to take credit cards as payment. But there was no formal announcement. When MTS switched from the Compass card to the Pronto system in 2020, they started letting riders know about the change an entire year in advance. There were flyers everywhere. For months, they held Pronto card events at various trolley stations. There were tables set up; people were handing out free cards and helping disabled people like me register for disabled passes. They touted the benefits of being able to pay in advance. Electronic banners and recorded announcements on the bus informed us of the upcoming change.

But this time? No flyers. No mention in the MTS newsletter. I did notice on September 2nd that there was an electronic banner announcing that the Pronto machines could now accept credit cards — even though the change had taken place in early August. It said there was information on the Pronto website. No regular rider ever visits that site; they visit the SD511 MTS site, which has information about routes, arrivals, and departures. And at least some MTS drivers and support workers were not informed of the change. In early September, I was on my way home when I encountered two security guards, checking passes. I asked when they learned about the credit card capabilities. One of them, dressed in blue, replied, “I’m sorry, I don’t really follow those types of things.” The other, dressed in yellow, said that he’d heard about it a month ago, but “my scanner still can’t check the credit cards, so if someone tells me they paid by card, I have to take their word for it.” (I actually asked multiple employees, and received multiple answers as to when they found out the change had taken place.) Soon after, I saw a man tap his entire wallet on the Pronto scan pad. Before the change, individual cards had to be removed and scanned. No more.

Every ride, every time. But careful what you scan!

Why is this a problem? Because I began finding strange charges on my credit card statement, charges for $2.50 to Pronto. How were these charges being made without my being aware of it? I was baffled. Then it hit me. I buy a monthly disabled bus pass every month. But for almost a month, ever since I noticed that the machines no longer required individual card swipes, I had been swiping both my bus pass and credit card — along with my other cards — over the Pronto machine. It was marvelously convenient to not have to shuffle through cards when I got on the bus — I usually have stuff in my hands, and my disability means that I have pain executing fine finger movements, so it felt like an answered prayer. But what I didn’t know was that the machine had the power to charge my credit card, never mind my bus pass.

I contacted my credit card company to dispute the charges. The lady who helped me laughed when I explained the situation. All of a sudden, the machines can scan more than one card at a time? What’s going on? All of a sudden, it’s no longer important to pay in advance? You can just pay with your card? Then why did I see the “Credit cards now accepted” announcement replaced with “Make sure to buy your Pronto cards and load enough value to get home” after a recent Padres home game? Why not let riders know that San Diego has caught up with cities like Chicago when it comes to paying for mass transit?

On Sept 7th, I noticed that SDSU was having some kind of festival celebrating the football game outside the stadium, and that MTS had an information table set up with a water bottle give away and at least three informational pamphlets on their table. None of them mentioned the credit card changes. I asked the representatives what they knew about the credit card situation; one girl told me she thought it started a month ago. I mentioned what happened with my credit card, and she said. “Oh yes, that’s happening to a lot of people. There have been lots of people calling customer service to complain about this, so you should call them too.” Lots of people? Why didn’t they do something about it after just one or two?

Why load your Pronto card when you can just pay with credit?

I headed to the trolley platform and saw two young MTS passenger support girls. I asked them if they knew about the credit card changes. The girl responded, “Oh my God, it’s so strange, I only found out about it 2 weeks ago. I feel so stupid working here and not knowing. But at the same time, we noticed that MTS didn’t tell any of the workers about it. It’s all been word of mouth, through the grapevine.” Why didn’t MTS tell its passenger support team, whose sole job it is to help passengers buy Pronto cards and pay their fares? They are always there whenever there is a special event , eager to assist new riders unfamiliar with the system. How can it be that they were not informed? That’s when I saw a line of 15 SDSU students in front of the Pronto machines, waiting to buy a Pronto card. No one from passenger support was telling them that standing in line was not necessary, that they could just tap their credit cards. 

After that, when I boarded the 936 bus at SDSU I decided to ask the driver when she found out about the change. She said she did not work for MTS, that she drove for Transdev, a company with which MTS contracts. She said she started driving only three months ago, but that she knew about it from her first day of work. I was shocked that this had been going on for three months, and kept asking her if she is certain about that timeline. I told her what happened to my cards, and she said, “Oh yeah, I know what you are talking about. A passenger told me six weeks ago that the same thing happened to her.”

I have always been fond of MTS and of riding the bus. But all this has changed me. From now on, I’m keeping my credit cards in my pocket when I board the bus.