Calgary Transit riders on four select routes will be able to buy and validate tickets using their phones this summer as part of a 90-day pilot program.
Running from late June until September, the program will see transit riders on the four routes download the My Fare app, allowing them to buy and validate tickets.
The four routes are:
- 4 - Huntington
- 38 - Brentwood/Temple
- 149 - Point Trotter
- 150 - 114 Avenue S.E.
The deadline to register for the pilot program is May 29.
Chris Jordan, with Calgary Transit, chose the routes for the pilot project because of their diversity in ridership and coverage in the city.
“It gives us the chance to test the app under a variety of conditions,” he says. “The advantages are customers are able to pay conveniently with a device that’s already available to most people. Either iOS or Android devices will be compatible.”
Brittany Bucsis usually buys a monthly pass and said this will add to convenience.
“Pretty much everything is going that way," she says. "Everybody has a phone and everybody is downloading apps. I know a lot of people usually don’t carry change on them.”
Feedback will be used to fine-tune the app and get it ready for a public launch.
Jordan says the platform has been successful in 40 other agencies around the world, including New York, Las Vegas and Boston.
There’s been a change in the way people look at mobile ticketing for transit throughout the world, he says.
“Using smartphones, which are much more pervasive than they were 10 years ago, is the right way to go.”
If the initial 90-day pilot project works out, the app will be fully implemented to the entire network by mid-2020.
For more information about the pilot program visit the Calgary Transit website.
