City of Calgary gets on board with mobile transit payments

After two failed attempts at an electronic fare system and decades ofrequiring exact change to ride the city bus, Calgary Transit is now consideringallowing customers to use smartphonesto purchase fares.

On Wednesday, the city's transportation and transit committee recommended city councilimplement a mobile ticketing and fare payment system for Calgary Transit.

While other cities use refillable smart cards, provide one-week passesor offer electronic fare systems, paying for Calgary Transit has long been more or less the same.

Ticket vending machines were first installed at LRT stations in 1989and they'vesince been upgraded to accept credit and debit cards, as well as cash. Taking the bus itself requires monthly passes, prepaid paper ticketsor exact change.

Pay with smartphone app

Thecity saysthese electronic upgrades will improve customer satisfactionand that customers want more flexibleand convenient options.

Users would download an app to their smartphones and create an account which would allow them topurchase a fare that would activate upon boarding a bus or train. When required to show their ticket, mobile users would simply show the bus driver or transit officers a virtual ticket on their smartphone.

"In many ways, it's automatic,"Coun. ShaneKeating, whochairs the committee, told theCalgaryEyeopener. "You can do it anywhere due to the wireless technology.

Upgrading to mobile ticketing and completing the required replacement of the existing ticket vending machines is expected to cost $20.5 million over five years, and administration estimates it would take one to twoyears to implement.

That's a far smaller budget and shorter timeline than implementing an account-based electronic fare system like Toronto's PRESTO card. Going that route, which the city has twice tried and failed to do, would cost $55 million to $75 million and take more than four years to put into effect.

Connect card failure

The city first started experimenting with electronic fare payment in 2010. By 2012, it was testing the smart cards, but terminated the project a year later, citing problems with the company that had been given the contract.

Late in 2013, the city rehired the same company and relaunched the project. Testing took place in 2014, and by June, 2015, the city announced it was once again giving up.

"Unfortunately that didn't pan out and was cancelled," Keating said. "Now we're re-looking at what can be done and where we can do something in the short term ... which is the mobile app."

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With files from the Calgary Eyeopener