I’ve run into this problem several times and seen other people experience the same thing. It affects both the pass slot and card slot on the what I believe are SPX E-fare boxes.

Having dealt with computers, electronics and software over the years I can tell you that magnetic card read heads get worn down, dirty, and out of alignment fairly often.

So RIPTA needs to put preventative maintenance programs in place – to clean and align and/or replace magnetic reader/writer heads on the alleged SPX E-Fare boxes.