Coronavirus creates shortage of PATCO Freedom cards

NEW JERSEY - The coronavirus is causing a shortage of PATCO Freedom cards, which are produced at a plant in China that has been shut down due to the outbreak.

“We had ordered 30,000 cards from our vendor paragon and we were notified they wouldn’t be able to deliver because the factory in China that was producing them was shut down as a result of the health issue related to the coronavirus," Delaware River Port Authority CEO John Hanson told FOX 29. 

That means that the fare cards used by thousands of PATCO passengers in South Jersey and Philly were unavailable, which left our entire area with only a handful available.

“We had about 700 left, which is probably a few weeks," Hanson explained.

Some riders are getting worried.

"It is starting to get worrying because there are a lot of other companies that are finding shortages of things and not just for PATCO but for many companies across the United States," one rider said.

PATCO says the card shortage will be quickly resolved 

"The vendor actually found 10,000 cards in the United Kingdom and we should be receiving them tomorrow," Hanson said. 

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