"I think logistics need to be worked out before we get really excited or angry about this," she said.

At present, no other American transit agency uses a fare collection system like the one UTA is proposing. In places like Washington, D.C. and New York, subway riders do use paper tickets with electronic strips, but the technology isn't available for riders to use a credit card as both a ticket and payment mechanism.

For that reason and others (such as the ability to track riders), Fiet says UTA's system would be more convenient and provide greater benefit to riders.

"This takes the worry out of how much to pay," he said. "It should be faster to board and use the service. We will have the ability to gather information about what kind of service our riders need."

By spring, UTA hopes to select a company to design a pilot for its contactless fare collection system. The system would then be installed temporarily on UTA's 40 ski buses. Resort employees and season pass holders at the resorts would be the first to use the system.

Anywhere from 60,000 to 75,000 fare cards will be used in the ski bus test-run.

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E-mail: nwarburton@desnews.com