History of Breeze Conversion
In preparation for the Breeze Card, MARTA initially deployed the Breeze Ticket, a limited-use paper stored value card. During the installation phase (December 2005-September 2006) Breeze gates were installed in all stations, there were new bus fare boxes and Breeze Vending Machines "BVMs", in which individuals can buy Tickets encoded with one ride. MARTA first implemented Breeze at the Bankhead station in December 2005. System wide installation (both train stations and buses) was completed in early September, making MARTA the first system in the United States to move towards only smart cards for fare (excepting cash).
Between October 6, 2006 and July 2007, patrons were allowed to purchase Breeze Cards (which initially expired three years after first use) for free. Also, starting October 2006, patrons were allowed to reload Breeze Tickets (which expire 90 days after purchase). After July 2007, the price to purchase a Breeze card and a Breeze ticket were set to $5 and $0.50 respectively. Now, the BVMs provide patrons with the ability to check a card's balance, and pay for parking at certain stations. The BVMs currently accept credit cards and cash for payment.
The system stopped selling tokens in the late fall, but magnetic weekly and monthly MARTA cards were still sold until July 2007 when magnetic cards were invalidated permanently; signalling completion of the Breeze system conversion. Breeze cards became available by mail to customers that pre-ordered starting September 30th. As the conversion reached its final phase, MARTA hosted "token exchanges"(October-December), allowing for people with rolls of tokens to have the number of tokens encoded on an extended-use card.
In May 2007 MARTA began to charge a 50 cent surcharge on all Breeze Tickets. July 2007 MARTA also stopped offering free Breeze Cards online and order forms from MARTA Ride Stores. Magnetic cards were invalidated permanently and MARTA considered the Breeze system complete.
MARTA indicated that July 2007 pay per boarding was scheduled to begin. This meant that all customers would have to pay with a Breeze Card, ticket or cash. Transfers were only available on Breeze fare media – no paper transfers or bus to rail magnetic transfers were to be issued. When this happened, to transfer free to MARTA, it was necessary to use a Breeze Card or Breeze Ticket because MARTA was no longer accepting paper transfers or bus to rail transfers.
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