Paying for a bus fare with a smartphone and logging on to the Internet while you wait for your stop are still in COTA's future. But that future isn't as distant as it once was. The Central Ohio Transit Authority is hiring a contractor to install wireless communication technology that is a precursor to offering wireless Internet on buses.

Paying for a bus fare with a smartphone and logging on to the Internet while you wait for your stop are still in COTA�s future.

But that future isn�t as distant as it once was.

The Central Ohio Transit Authority is hiring a contractor to install wireless communication technology in its fixed-route buses and paratransit vehicles by the end of the year to replace its current radio system. That is a precursor to offering wireless Internet on buses.

COTA also is developing a request for proposals for a new payment system that would replace outdated fareboxes that require cash or a COTA pass and begin accepting digital payments.

�It�s critical, I think, that we have this technology for our customers,� said Jean Carter Ryan, chairwoman of COTA�s board.

The board approved a $1.6 million contract on Wednesday with Digital Highway Inc. to purchase and install mobile data systems for up to 444 vehicles.

COTA has been using the Franklin County radio network for years to let bus drivers communicate with the dispatch center and one another and to transmit data from the buses. The new system, though, will use cellular data.

�That (radio) technology is solid and reliable, but dated,� said Jeff Vosler, COTA�s chief financial officer. �We have been contemplating this move for a couple of years.�

The subscription fees for cellular data should be similar to what COTA pays to access the county radio system, he said. The subscription will be competitively bid.

Switching will eliminate some blackout areas for COTA�s radio system, and it will make real-time bus tracking more reliable because bus locations will update every 15 seconds instead of every minute, he said.

Vosler said the new communications equipment should be installed by October. The new equipment also will make it possible for COTA to offer Wi-Fi access to riders, though Vosler said there is no timetable to roll that out.

Changing to the faster cellular data will also allow COTA to upgrade its payment collection system, he said.

COTA�s board approved spending up to $200,000 more on a $240,000 consultant contract with the IBI Group to help develop the framework for a contract to replace its current payment system, which was installed in 1995.

The authority likely will move to a system that links special payment cards and smartphones, he said.

The so-called �smart cards� could be loaded with cash or linked to a credit card, he said. The new payment system also will integrate a smartphone app or allow users to pay with Apple Pay or Google Wallet from their phones. The new fareboxes will continue to accept cash and other passes.

COTA expects to develop its request for proposals for the system through the end of the year and have a contract by early 2017.

Vosler said it will take up to two years to switch to the new technology once a contract is signed.

�There are many many many details and many ways to accomplish it,� he said. �It�s not like buying a car and you just click the options. There is a certain amount of design that is specific to your authority.�