How Monterey-Salinas Transit Paved the Way for California’s Contactless Revolution
by Kalin Hitrov
In May 2021, Monterey-Salinas Transit (MST) became the first transit agency in California, and the fifth in the U.S., to deploy a contactless fare payment system. The agency worked with Littlepay to launch a demonstration on its bus fleet in partnership with Cal-ITP. Tap2Ride gave riders a faster, more convenient way to pay for fares by tapping their contactless credit or debit cards, or smart devices.
| 1st | 47% | 80% | 28.5% |
| transit agency in California to go contactless | of riders surveyed were using Tap2Ride | Reduction in cost of ownership | YoY contactless revenue growth |
| 1 year after launch | vs. legacy system, over 3yrs | Sept 2026 vs. Sept 2025 |
About MST
Monterey-Salinas Transit (MST) is the public transit agency for Monterey County, California. It serves more than 436,000 residents across 12 cities and the County of Monterey, carrying around 3 million passengers a year on its fixed-route bus, trolley and MST RIDES paratransit services.
The context
MST’s deployment was the first of many under the Caltrans-led California Integrated Travel Project (Cal-ITP), aimed at improving travel planning and transit payments throughout the state. With the Cal-ITP framework in place, MST wanted to take a holistic approach to enhancing the overall transit experience for its riders.
A core objective was to streamline fare payments, offering a faster and more convenient option compared to buying tickets with cash. Additionally, contactless payments offered a potential route to enabling rider discounts for eligible groups to be verified and applied digitally.
With the COVID-19 pandemic in full effect, MST also needed to ensure the safety of its riders and drivers by limiting physical contact and cash handling.
The challenge
As a public organization, MST strives to maximize value for taxpayers’ money. Its legacy cash-based ticketing system was experiencing performance issues and draining a lot of its resources through maintenance, cash counting and downtime. MST needed a modern payment option that was quick to deploy and cost less to run.
The solution
MST launched contactless payments in May 2021 as a six-month demonstration under Cal-ITP, the first of many across the state. Following the demonstration, MST moved to permanent service through Cal-ITP’s Mobility Marketplace.
Taking advantage of Master Service Agreements to purchase hardware and software needed to accept contactless payments, MST avoided the need for a traditional procurement process.
From pre-approved vendors, it selected Littlepay as its transit processor, Kuba for payment acceptance devices and Elavon for payment processing (acquiring services).
MST introduced its Tap2Ride open-loop fare system, configuring daily, weekly and monthly fare caps to create cost savings for frequent riders.
At the point of tap, Littlepay’s back office checks whether a rider’s card is valid for travel using near real-time deny lists. It provides authorization, settlement and price adjustments for any applicable fare caps.
The results
In a survey of riders carried out one year after launch, the agency found that nearly half (47%) of all respondents were using the system. That figure was even higher, at 59%, among Spanish-speaking respondents.
MST also saw significant cost savings after implementing open payments. Over three years, the cost of ownership for the new system was just 20% of the legacy fare collection system’s.
Littlepay helped MST to:
✓ Become California’s first contactless transit agency
✓ Deploy a modular system without a traditional procurement
✓ Cut cost of ownership of its ticketing system by 80%
✓ Reach riders across language communities
Customer feedback
Our main goal was to make paying for a fare as frictionless as possible. A close second was making sure, when spending taxpayers’ money for this deployment, they get the biggest bang for their buck. And we have become huge fans of the Littlepay deployment because it’s nailing both of these.
Michael Kohlman
CIO, MST
Next steps
MST’s work with Littlepay didn’t stop when Tap2Ride went live. The two teams have continued to work together, alongside Cal-ITP and other technology partners, to deliver more industry firsts.
Riders in Monterey were the first in the U.S. to get discounted fares linked directly to their bank card, and the first to add a transit card to Google Wallet using Google Transit Insights.
MST’s continued investment in the Tap2Ride experience keeps driving adoption: in September 2026, open-loop fare revenue grew 28.5% year on year, and transaction volume grew at almost the same rate.
More innovations are in the pipeline with MST looking at further opportunities to make its Tap2Ride system inclusive and appealing to all its riders.
