Hop Fastpass is a

contactless smart card A contactless smart card is a contactless credential whose dimensions are credit card size. Its embedded integrated circuits can store (and sometimes process) data and communicate with a terminal via NFC. Commonplace uses include transit ticket ...

for

public transit Public transport (also known as public transit, mass transit, or simply transit) are forms of transport available to the general public. It typically uses a fixed schedule, route and charges a fixed fare. There is no rigid definition of wh ...

fare payment on most transit modes in the Portland, Oregon, metropolitan area including

MAX Light Rail The Metropolitan Area Express (MAX) is a light rail system serving the Portland metropolitan area in the U.S. state of Oregon. Owned and operated by TriMet, it consists of five lines connecting the Neighborhoods of Portland, Oregon, six sectio ...

, WES commuter rail,

Portland Streetcar The Portland Streetcar is a streetcar system in Portland, Oregon, that opened in 2001 and serves areas surrounding downtown Portland. The NS Line runs from Northwest Portland to the South Waterfront via Downtown and the Pearl District. Th ...

, The Vine, and all

TriMet The Tri-County Metropolitan Transportation District of Oregon (TriMet) is a Transit district, transit agency that serves most of the Oregon part of the Portland metropolitan area. Created in 1969 by the Oregon Legislative Assembly, Oregon legi ...

and C-TRAN buses. An initial release to the general public began on July 5, 2017, with the official launch on July 17. The program is managed by TriMet. The Hop card is a purple credit card-sized stored-value

contactless smartcard A contactless smart card is a contactless credential whose dimensions are credit card size. Its embedded integrated circuits can store (and sometimes process) data and communicate with a terminal via NFC. Commonplace uses include transit ticket ...

that can hold a cash value or day or monthly passes for various systems. Because all terminals that read Hop cards can also accept NFC-based

mobile payment Mobile payment, also referred to as mobile money, mobile money transfer and mobile wallet, is any of various payment processing services operated under financial regulations and performed from or via a mobile device. Instead of paying with cas ...

, "virtual" Hop cards are available for use on any

iOS Ios, Io or Nio (, ; ; locally Nios, Νιός) is a Greek island in the Cyclades group in the Aegean Sea. Ios is a hilly island with cliffs down to the sea on most sides. It is situated halfway between Naxos and Santorini. It is about long an ...

or Android smartphone supporting

Apple Pay Apple Pay is a mobile payment service by Apple Inc. that allows users to make payments in person, in iOS apps, and on the web. Supported on iPhone, Apple Watch, iPad, Mac, and Vision Pro, Apple Pay digitizes and can replace a credit or debi ...

Google Wallet Google Wallet (or simply Wallet) is a digital wallet platform developed by Google. It is available for the Android, Wear OS, and Fitbit OS operating systems, and was announced on May 11, 2022, at the 2022 Google I/O keynote. It began rollin ...

respectively; these are functionally identical to physical cards. Day or month passes allowing unlimited rides within the given time frame can be "earned" by purchasing an amount in single fares equal to the cost of the pass; a year pass, which costs as much as 11 earned month passes, can also be purchased up-front. Passengers must tap on each time they enter the system by holding the card to an electronic reader to validate a pass or deduct funds. Cards can be reloaded using a credit or debit card online, using a

mobile app A mobile application or app is a computer program or software application designed to run on a mobile device such as a smartphone, phone, tablet computer, tablet, or smartwatch, watch. Mobile applications often stand in contrast to desktop appli ...

, calling a

toll-free number A toll-free telephone number or freephone number is a telephone number that is billed for all arriving calls. For the calling party, a call to a toll-free number is free of charge, unless air-charges apply for mobile telephone service. A toll-free ...

, or at local retailers and ticket offices. Cash can be used when reloading the card in person.

Background

Prior to the introduction of electronic payments on the network, paper tickets and passes were used by Portland-area transit agencies. The tickets needed to be validated at ticket validators on the Streetcar or at MAX and WES stations. They did not offer fare exchange or extension. Installation of Hop readers began in March 2015, and was completed by the end of 2016. A public beta began in February 2017. The system cost $35.9 million to install and test at the time of its public release.

Technology

The Hop Card uses ISO 14443-compliant

RFID Radio-frequency identification (RFID) uses electromagnetic fields to automatically identify and track tags attached to objects. An RFID system consists of a tiny radio transponder called a tag, a radio receiver, and a transmitter. When tri ...

technology allowing the card to be read/written without direct contact. The card uses the NXP/

Philips Koninklijke Philips N.V. (), simply branded Philips, is a Dutch multinational health technology company that was founded in Eindhoven in 1891. Since 1997, its world headquarters have been situated in Amsterdam, though the Benelux headquarter ...

MIFARE DESFire EV1 256B. Hop Card readers can also read information from contactless bank cards and mobile wallets.

Brand

The card's initial design is an ISO 7810 standard-sized purple card, with the Hop logo, and the logos of the three participating transit agencies at the top, and a colored bar at the bottom. The colored bar indicates the type of card: purple for standard adult fares, green for "honored citizen" which includes seniors, low-income riders, and riders with disabilities, and orange for youth cards. Cards also have a hole punched in them for use with a

lanyard A lanyard is a length of cord, webbing, or strap that may serve any of various functions, which include a means of attachment, restraint, retrieval, activation, and deactivation. A lanyard is also a piece of rigging used to secure or lowe ...

. The Hop name was chosen in September 2015, beating out other candidates, including 1Pass, Indigo, Umbrella, Via and Lynx, that were proposed in 2014. Its name references both

rabbit Rabbits are small mammals in the family Leporidae (which also includes the hares), which is in the order Lagomorpha (which also includes pikas). They are familiar throughout the world as a small herbivore, a prey animal, a domesticated ...

s and the

hops Hops are the flowers (also called seed cones or strobiles) of the hop plant ''Humulus lupulus'', a member of the Cannabaceae family of flowering plants. They are used primarily as a bittering, flavouring, and stability agent in beer, to whic ...

used in

craft beer Craft beer is beer manufactured by craft breweries, which typically produce smaller amounts of beer than larger "macro" breweries and are often independently owned. Such breweries are generally perceived and marketed as emphasising enthusiasm, ne ...

s brewed in Portland.

Sales

Hop cards can be purchased at any participating transit agencies' ticket offices, as well as local grocery and convenience stores.

Use

The card must be tapped each time the system is entered or a transfer is made. It can be tapped on boarding a bus or streetcar, or tapped before boarding the light rail, commuter rail, or BRT. On tapping the card a display shows the time remaining on the current ticket or pass. It also displays any relevant low-balance alerts with an audible sound. There is no penalty for tapping the card more than once within the duration of a ticket. Unlike some systems, there is no need to tap out when leaving the system since fare is the same regardless of the point of exit.

Ticketing/pricing

The network's fares are time-based rather than distance or segment-based. Tickets are available for unlimited travel over the course of 2.5 hours, one day, one month, or one year. Hop's fare capping system prevents riders from being charged more than the cost of a day pass during one day, or the cost of a monthly pass in the course of a month. This allows riders the benefits of a day or a monthly pass without the upfront cost, or the need to purchase one in advance. The card can be reloaded online, over the phone, or with the Hop app using a credit or debit card. It can also be reloaded using a credit card or cash anywhere it can be purchased. Hop cards do not expire (except honored citizen cards, which must be renewed every two years). Once a loaded pass expires it can be reloaded with a new one. TriMet has said it projects a card will last 10 years.

Mobile wallets

On May 21, 2019, TriMet announced that Hop could be added to

and

Apple Wallet Apple Wallet (or simply Wallet, known as Passbook prior to iOS 9) is a digital wallet developed by Apple Inc. and included with iOS and watchOS that allows users to store Wallet passes such as coupons, boarding passes, Campus card, student ID c ...

by using the Hop Fastpass app on either Android or iOS. Hop was the first transit card in North America to launch availability in both Google Wallet and Apple Wallet."TriMet first with Android Pay virtual fare card"
Retrieved Oct 11, 2019 Virtual Hop cards are functionally identical to their physical counterparts, allowing for the same fare capping rules, and allowing riders to purchase concession fares. Hop also allows riders to convert physical cards onto either mobile payment system.

Notes

References

External links

* {{Use American English, date=September 2018 Fare collection systems in the United States Contactless smart cards Public transportation in Oregon 2017 establishments in Oregon 2017 establishments in Washington (state) TriMet Transportation in Clark County, Washington