Calgary Transit testing smartphone ticket app

Calgary Transit is trying out a new app that will let riders buy and validate their fares using a smartphone.

Users who have the MyFare app installed on their phones will scan a bar code on a validator installed on the bus.

"You'll be able to use your phone as your ticket, by scanning it when you board your bus or showing it to your driver," Calgary Transit says on its website.

Testing will take place from late June to late September on four routes in the city.

The app will be tested for a 90-day period on these routes:

• 4 Huntington.
• 38 Brentwood/Temple.
• 149 Point Trotter.
• 150 114 AvenueS.E.

Riders who regularly take one or more of these routes are invited to sign up for the pilot project.

Users will be asked to download a test version of the app, set up an account, including payment information, and use the app throughout the 90-day pilot period.

The deadline to sign up is May 29.

If the testing phase goes well, the plan is to fully deploy MyFarecitywide by the middle of 2020.

Calgary Transit says it has no plan to eliminate paper tickets.