The Connecticut Department of Transportation has been awarded $450,000 from the federal government to install voice-activated ticket vending machines at seven Shoreline East train stations.
Rich Andreski, bureau chief of state public transportation, said riders have asked for ticket machines and the state wants to provide them the latest technology.
“It’s a new technology I guess much in the same way you would interact with Alexa in your kitchen. The idea is you walk up to a machine and let the machine know what ticket types you need,” Andreski said.
The machines first need to be designed and tested. Then, the DOT hopes to have them installed at the stations by the end of 2022.
“While a vast majority of customers do have smartphones, it’s not universal. There are customers even to this day that may have a flip phone, an old-fashioned flip phone, or may have no phone at all. And we need to provide the service for those folks. We serve all customers regardless of their technological capabilities,” Andreski said.
Tickets for trains can also be purchased on smartphone app CTRail eTix.
