Material Type

Artifact

Other Name

LETHBRIDGE TRANSIT DIAMOND FARE BOX

Date Range From

1970

Date Range To

2012

Materials

STEEL, BRASS, PLASTIC

No. Pieces

1

Height

58.5

Length

16

Width

15

Description

CYLINDER WITH STEEL BASE BOLTED TO CLEAR PLASTIC CANISTER, TOPPED WITH ROUNDED ALUMINIUM CAP WITH BEVELED SLOT THAT OPENS INTO PLASTIC CANISTER WITH TWO TOOTHED, METAL, ANGLED FLAPS. BASE HAS TWO IRREGULAR METAL SHAPES EMERGING FROM ONE SIDE, AND A RED, WHITE, AND YELLOW LABEL STUCK TO THE OPPOSITE SIDE THAT READS “CASH FARES – PLEASE OBTAIN A TRANSFER WHEN PAYING FARE… L.A. TRANSIT…”. BASE BOTTOM IS STOPPED WITH BRASS PLUG, STAMPED WITH TEXT READING “DIAMOND MFG. CO. – KANSAS CITY, MO.” AND “47” HANDWRITTEN IN BLACK MARKER. GENERAL WEAR, NICKS IN METAL, CLOUDING OF PLASTIC, SCUFFS AND TEARS ON LABEL, TAPE RESIDUE ALONG BOTTOM EDGE. OVERALL GOOD CONDITION.

Subjects

LAND TRANSPORTATION-ACCESSORY

Historical Association

TRANSPORTATION

RETAIL TRADE

History

THIS FARE BOX WAS PRODUCED BY DIAMOND MANUFACTURING IN KANSAS CITY, MISSOURI, AND USED IN LETHBRIDGE TRANSIT BUSES BETWEEN 1970 AND 2012. ON APRIL 23, 2015, COLLECTIONS TECHNICIAN INTERVIEWED DIANE BOULTON, AN EMPLOYEE WITH LETHBRIDGE TRANSIT FROM 1975 TO 2014. BOULTON SAID: “I WAS A BUS DRIVER AND THEN WENT ON TO BECOME PART OF MANAGEMENT… [THIS TYPE OF FARE BOX] WAS IN SERVICE WHEN I STARTED WITH THE DEPARTMENT IN 1975 AND HAD PROBABLY BEEN IN SERVICE FOR MAYBE FIVE TO 10 YEARS [ALREADY]. IT IS CALLED A DIAMOND FARE BOX… IT WOULD BE MOUNTED ON A STANCHION NEXT TO THE DRIVER’S COMPARTMENT… IT’S A STAINLESS STEEL CYLINDER THAT IS OPEN… AND WE WOULD SLIDE A SOLID BRASS CYLINTER UP INSIDE OF IT THAT WAS A LOCKING MECHANISM FOR THE FARE BOX… THERE WAS A LOCKING MECHANISM ON [THE] FLANGE THAT WOULD LOCK IT IN PLACE AND [IT] REQUIRED A TWO-KEY SYSTEM TO GET IN AND OUT OF… AT THE TOP, IT’S AN OPEN CYLINDER, SO SOMEBODY COULD COME IN WITH A HANDFUL OF CASH AND… YOU ARE GOING TO GET MULTIPLE TYPES OF COINS… IT’S REALLY HARD TO COUNT THE PHYSICAL FARE… SO YOU’RE TAKING THE CUSTOMER ON THEIR HONESTY… THE DRIVERS [ALSO] HAD TO PHYSICALLY COUNT WHEN WE WERE DOING PASSENGER COUNTS TO TRY AND GET SOME SORT OF STATISTICAL ANALYSIS OF HOW MANY PEOPLE WERE RIDING, WHAT FARE CATEGORIES WERE RIDING… WITH THE ELECTRONIC FARE BOX [ADOPTED BY LETHBRIDGE TRANSIT IN 2012], IT TELLS EXACTLY WHEN IT’S GOT THE ALLOTTED FARE [AND] AT THE SAME TIME IT’S TAKING YOUR FARE, IT’S COUNTING YOU AS A PASSENGER… THE ELECTRONIC FARE BOX GIVES US A HUGE AMOUNT OF DATA, THAT VERY EASILY IT OBTAINED, WHILE THIS ONE WAS MORE ONEROUS… [ANOTHER REASON] THAT WE STARTED TO SWITCH OUT WAS THAT WE STARTED TO GET DIFFICULTY IN GETTING PARTS BECAUSE THE [DIAMOND] FARE BOX ITSELF WAS FAIRLY OLD.” BOULTON CONTINUED: “BECAUSE IT’S WHAT I USED ALL THE TIME [AS A BUS DRIVER] THERE’S SOME NOSTALGIA THERE… THE SIMPLICITY OF IT… AS THINGS CHANGE AND MOVE FORWARD… IT’S KINDA NEAT… I THINK WHEN I FIRST STARTED IT WAS… $0.65 FOR AN ADULT FARE, AND $0.25 OR $0.35 FOR 17 OR UNDER CHILD FARE, AND SENIORS HAD A PASS THAT THEY RODE FREE… THERE WAS THE ODD TIME WHERE PEOPLE WOULD TRY AND FIGURE OUT A WAY TO GET THE CYLINDER OUT OF A BOTTOM OF IT… AND OCCASIONALLY THE CYLINDERS WOULD FALL OUT IF [YOU] WERE IN A HURRY WHEN YOU WERE PUTTING THEM IN AND YOU DIDN’T QUITE GET THE LOCKING MECHANISM SHUT… YOU’D BE DRIVING DOWN THE ROAD AND ALL OF A SUDDEN, BOOM! THE CYLINDER WOULD DROP OUT OF THE BOTTOM… WE HAD 50-60 OF THE DIAMOND FARE BOXES [AND] THE ACTUAL COIN CYLINDERS THAT WENT UP INSIDE, WE PROBABLY HAD 120-150 OF THOSE BECAUSE, FOR EVERY [FULL] ONE YOU DROPPED OUT, YOU HAD TO PUT ANOTHER UP AND THEY WOULD GET DROPPED OUT AT NIGHT, SO THEY WOULDN’T GET OPENED UNTIL THE NEXT MORNING [FOR FARES TO BE COUNTED].” ACCORDING TO THE ARTICLE “DIAMOND FAREBOXES ARE FOREVER”, PUBLISHED IN FEBRUARY 2013 ON BUSRIDE.COM, DIAMOND MANUFACTURING HAS PRODUCED ROUND FAREBOXES FOR COIN FARES SINCE 1947. DIAMOND-BRAND FAREBOXES ARE USED BY TRANSIT SYSTEMS IN EVERY AMERICAN STATE, THROUGHOUT CANADA, AND IN MEXICO, VENEZUELA, BERMUDA AND GUAM. THE AVERAGE LIFESPAN OF A DIAMOND FAREBOX IS 30 YEARS, WITH LITTLE MAINTENANCE REQUIRED DUE TO THE SIMPLICITY OF THE DESIGN. SEE PERMANENT FILE FOR HARDCOPIES OF FULL INTERVIEW TRANSCRIPT AND ONLINE SOURCE MATERIAL.

Catalogue Number

P20140018000

Acquisition Date

2014-05

Collection

Museum

Less detail