Overview
This article supports frontline triage when fare equipment is affecting rider transactions and station operations.
When to use
Use this article when staff report that one or more fare machines are not accepting card payments, freezing during checkout, or showing payment errors.
Immediate steps
Confirm whether the issue affects one machine or multiple machines.
Record the station or transit center location.
Record the machine ID or any visible asset number.
Capture the exact error shown on screen, if any.
Confirm whether cash transactions still work.
Perform only an approved soft restart if station procedures allow it.
Do not ask riders to repeatedly retry the same payment card if the machine is clearly failing.
Escalate as urgent when
multiple machines are affected
long lines are forming
fare collection is disrupted
the issue is impacting service operations
Information to include in the case
location
machine ID
time issue started
number of machines affected
payment types affected
photo or screenshot, if available
Operational note
If service impact is active, create or route the case as Priority 0 and notify the operations escalation path.