Patent ID: 7124118

Claim:
A system for implementing a best fare for each patron of a plurality of patrons, each patron utilizing a smart card for access to a plurality of mass transit devices, the system comprising: a mass transit central computer; a best fare data base connected to the mass transit central computer, the best fare data base for storing a plurality of price point tables, each price point table of the plurality of price point tables comprising at least one price point having a maximum fare corresponding to a maximum number of days; a value load list processor configured to download at least one of the plurality of price point tables to at least one mass transit device of the plurality of mass transit devices; and the plurality of mass transit devices coupled to the mass transit central computer and the value load list processor, each mass transit device of the plurality of mass transit devices comprising: a smart card reader for reading from and writing to the smart card, the smart card for storing fare transaction data for a plurality of days, the fare transaction data comprising a purchased fare for each day of the plurality of days; a best fare processor in communication with the mass transit central computer, the best fare processor configured to analyze a rolling time period comprising a portion of the fare transaction data stored on the smart card against the at least one price point of the each price point table of the plurality of price point tables, the rolling time period having a start date and an end date, the best fare processor configured to determine the best fare for the rolling time period when a sum of the purchased fares for the rolling time period is at least equal to the maximum fare of the at least one price point.