Why do SunRail stations only have 1 cash machine?

Here is another one of those questions we get all the time from fellow riders. How come there is only a ticket machine on one SunRail platform that takes cash. 

We know one woman – a first time rider – who only had cash when she came to the station and didn’t realize the cash machine was on the other platform. So we put the question to a SunRail spokesman. Here’s his response:

“There is only one cash machine at every station due to the additional maintenance and costs associated with operating a cash machine (i.e. people try to jam bills into the receptacle, it requires an armored service to empty the machines, and a place to store and count the cash, etc.). More and more CRT properties (including Tri-Rail) are moving toward this system of fare collection. If there are more stations northbound, the cash machine is on the NB platform. If there are more stations SB, the cash machine is located on the SB platform. Rationale is, you are more likely to serve the most passengers where additional destinations are on the line.”