==Background==

As far back as 2001,<ref>http://www.bicycling.511.org/news/press_releases/archive/rel188.htm</ref> the Translink pilot program was launched. This program entails a single smartcard (much like the [[w:Oyster card|Oyster card]] in London) that you can use to pay fare at all of the different public transit agencies in the SF Bay Area. The pilot took place at select [[w:BART|BART]], [[w:MUNI|MUNI]], [[w:Caltrain|Caltrain]], [[w:Golden Gate Transit|Golden Gate Transit]], [[w:AC Transit|AC Transit]], and [[w:Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority|VTA]] routes/stations. The pilot ended officially ended in 2006; BART and MUNI turned off their card readers sometime in the middle of the year, whereas Caltrain and VTA turned off (or were supposed to, in the case of Caltrain) their readers in October of 2006.<ref>http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showpost.php?s=12cbca9518521bf2fda99e9b4e8d6d0a&p=6549254&postcount=17</ref> It was also around this time<ref>http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Bay_Area_Rapid_Transit&diff=87021478&oldid=85754301</ref> that AC Transit and Golden Gate Transit fully launched Translink on all their routes and vehicles, meaning that anyone with a Translink card could now pay for fare on their routes with the card. Caltrain sent out a letter to all card members in November 2006 informing them that the card readers were no longer functional and that it was no longer possible to pay for Caltrain fares using Translink. People who have joined Translink since aren't told anything with regard to the matter.