Installation of fare boxes on Port Authority of Allegheny County buses and light-rail cars has resumed since glitches halted the $33 million project in August, authority officials said.

The new fare boxes will enable riders to swipe prepaid "smartcards" or tickets over electronic readers as they board buses or light-rail cars. The authority has dubbed the system ConnectCard.

"It will be like E-ZPass for transit," authority CEO Steve Bland said.

The boxes are designed to accept cash.

The authority put the brakes on installation work -- and a $2 million payment to contractor Scheidt & Bachmann USA of Burlington, Mass. -- because dollar bills were getting stuck in boxes that were placed in 130 of 190 buses based in the Collier garage. Similar problems occurred in March with Ross-based buses.

"The problem has been resolved," Port Authority project manager Tim Bach told an authority oversight committee Wednesday.

Bach said work has been completed on all buses based in Ross and Collier. Installation on buses from the West Mifflin and East Liberty garages will be completed by March and on light-rail cars by mid-April. Riders can begin signing up for and receiving ConnectCards in July -- 400,000 cards will be printed.

The system is expected to be operational by March 2012, the same month the North Shore Connector light-rail cars under the Allegheny River are scheduled to begin running.

Officials revised anticipated costs of the North Shore Connector to $523.4 million, down from the latest estimate of $528.8 million. Construction began in 2007 on a $435 million budget, but estimates have been revised several times since, at one point surpassing $550 million. Project manager Keith Wargo said work is almost 90 percent complete.

The authority said, however, it has reached an agreement to pay tunnel boring contractors Obayashi Corp. and West Mifflin-based Trumbull Corp. $2.7 million related to a five-week delay when wood buried in a layer of clay clogged equipment, increasing costs.

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2-year Stanwix closure to end

The long-term closure of a portion of Stanwix Street, Downtown, will end Friday night, the Port Authority of Allegheny County said.

'This is going to help us out tremendously,' said Tyler Dzadovsky, assistant general manager of Gold's Gym at Forbes and Stanwix.

A section of Stanwix between Liberty and Penn avenues has been closed for about two years because of work related to the North Shore Connector project, including demolition of the former Gateway Station and construction of a new one underground.

The Market Square makeover, which was completed in August, compounded problems for many businesses and motorists.

'It's been a short-term inconvenience for a long-term gain and asset to Downtown,' said Kerry Donahue, a spokeswoman for the 31-story office and shopping complex that is across the street from the future Gateway Station.

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