New Jersey beach community Ocean City requires residents and visitors to pay for beach access by buying plastic badges that have to be worn at all times so they can be checked by inspectors.

The city recently announced, however, that they're planning to get rid of the cards by 2009 and replace them with RFID wristbands.

The wristband system is being developed by Marketing Resources, Inc., which says the plan is to enable the wristbands also to be used to pay for food and parking.

RFID Journal's Mary Catherine O'Connor reports that Ocean City last summer spent over $282,000 to employ 170 badge inspectors, and the city hopes to halve that amount with the RFID system.

And the Associated Press' Wayne Parry says the wristbands will offer another side benefit, "the ability to link one wristband to others. A mother going to the beach with three small children, for instance, could have her bracelet linked to those of her children. If one of them passes an electronic sensor at the entrance or exit to the boardwalk without the right adult, a text message would instantly be sent to her cellphone."

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