ERIC GARCETTI MAYOR

MEMORANDUM

To: Heads of All City Departments

From: Eric M. Garcetti, Mayor

Subject: TAP Cards for City Employees Working in Downtown Los Angeles

Date: January 29, 2014

As Mayor, improving City government efficiency through technology and innovation is one of

my top priorities. Encouraging city employees to use transit as opposed to city vehicles to

conduct local city business will reduce maintenance, fuel and parking costs, traffic and air

pollution. Accordingly, my office is working with LADOT to implement a program that will

provide TAP smart cards to all City employees working in Downtown Los Angeles. These

TAP cards will be loaded with passes that will enable City employees to ride DASH

Downtown Los Angeles for free.

This new program will replace an existing program under which City departments buy DASH

tickets to give to their employees when making City business trips on DASH. The new

program will eliminate the need to print and distribute paper DASH ticket books. We

anticipate an increase in DASH ridership as a result of this program, and using TAP will allow

LADOT to track effectiveness and use of the TAP cards by City employees. All City

Department heads shall encourage their employees to use DASH instead of City vehicles for

work trips within Downtown Los Angeles.

I am directing all Department Heads to begin implementing this program by having their

personnel staff compile a list of all employees (including interns and student professional

workers) currently working in the Downtown Los Angeles area served by DASH Downtown

Los Angeles, including names, work location and employee identification number.

Departments should retain these lists and forward a count of the total number of employees

on their lists to LADOT, attention Kari Derderian (kari.derderian@lacity.org).

200 N. SPRING STREET, ROOM 303 LOS ANGELES , CA 90012 (213 ) 978 -0600 MAYOR.LACITY.ORG

Heads of All City Departments January 29, 2014 Page 2

LADOT will provide your department with a sufficient supply of uniquely numbered TAP cards

for all of the employees on the list. Individual departments will be responsible for

administering the issuance of the cards to each of their employees. Departments shall record

the unique 16 digit serial number on the card as it is issued to each employee.

The cards supplied will allow your employees to take unlimited rides on DASH Downtown Los

Angeles. These cards are expected to expire in 2017, after which the cards will need to be

replaced. My office will be working with LADOT and the General Services Department (GSD)

to evaluate the feasibility of integrating these DASH passes with employee identification

cards.

These TAP cards will also function as any other TAP card issued by Metro or other transit

agencies in LA County. While the credits provided by the city will only work within the

downtown corridor, if an employee wants to use the card to take other transit trips, such as

commuting to/from work, the LADOT TAP card can be loaded with transit passes from other

transit operators such as MTA, Foothill Transit, etc. The card can also be loaded with a cash

balance (stored value) and used to pay for individual transit rides in lieu of paying cash.

Adding these additional functions is voluntary and will not interfere with use of the card to ride

free on DASH Downtown Los Angeles.

Departments are reminded that these LADOT TAP cards are being issued to City employees

during the time they work in the area served by DASH Downtown Los Angeles. They are to

be treated just like an employee’s City identification card and are not to be given, loaned or

sold to another individual. In addition, the cards are to be surrendered to his/her departmental

personnel services group if an employee leaves City employment or is no longer working in

Downtown Los Angeles.

If you have any questions regarding this program, please contact James Lefton at LADOT at

james.lefton@lacity.org or (213) 972-8408.