Kudos to Vancouver mayoralty candidate Gregor Robertson for dropping his legal challenge against a TransLink fine for fare violation on SkyTrain.

While it stings to have to pay $173 for being $1 short of the fare owed — in what Robertson called a "dumb" mistake in misjudging the zones he travelled that day — paying the fine is the only honorable course of action.

He initially said he was challenging the fine because of his concern for the less-fortunate who were less able to pay such hefty fines. This is a laudable concern but I think a better way to address this would be for Robertson to support Transportation Minister Kevin Flacon's plan to invest in turnstiles and "smart card" technology, as used in other major urban transportation systems.

I am older and a bit of a Luddite when it comes to much of the newfangled technology that the youth seem to embrace and understand intuitively. However, that is the beauty of the smart cards — they do the thinking for me.

Oldtimers like me have mastered and come to love the ease of our Interac banking cards, which operate much the same as transit smart cards. And transit smart cards afford a level of flexibility for every situation you might stumble into, enabling you to travel anywhere without fear of getting stranded or worse, being fined for going past the zones you've paid for.

Smart cards, like Interac cards, don't cost anything to acquire — they are merely an account into which you put money for whichever transit plan you desire.

How many times have you stood in line or fumbled for exact change at a station fare box, while hearing your train pull out of the station? Wouldn't you rather put a $20 credit or more into your smart card account, either through the Internet, phone banking or at a station fare centre, and then breeze through the turnstile?

If you have any questions about the status of your smart card account you can swipe it at a station card reader and it will tell you what your balance is, as well as your recent itinerary.

If you have purchased a zone-specific plan and you travel beyond those zones, the turnstile will let you out so that you can make your appointment, but the card will record that you owe for the extra zone. There is no fine for that — but you will have to "top it up" to pay for the extra zone before the turnstiles will let you return.

The cards also automatically debit your account at the best deal available, depending on whether you travel at peak or off-peak times, even calculating special day-rate discounts for those days when you travel more on the system.

Should you lose your card, one call will have the card cancelled immediately and the remaining credit on your account can be transferred to a new card. And any credits or debits on the card remain on your account as long as the account exists — there is no expiry date.

Even those who rarely use transit would want to have a transit smart card in their pockets, ready for any eventuality. Smart cards save you money, as well as save you from the humiliation of a $173 fine for a "dumb" mistake.