BC Transit riders will be able to pay with electronic means by the end of 2023.
BC Transit is welcoming Umo as a vendor to allow the use of mobile apps, debit and credit cards, and mobile wallets, and a reloadable smart cards to pay for their rides.
“It certainly is becoming quite a bit more prevalent in transit systems across North America” said VP of Business Development Christy Ridout.
“For us directly, it was time for us to replace our existing fair technology. It’s very. old, difficult to maintain, and it’s hard for us to get replacement parts, so the timing was right regardless.”
Ridout said they are going to start with the pilot system in Victoria this fall, and then move on into the rest of the province.
“It’s going to happen very quickly, after we get Victoria up and running, we are going to be in quick succession moving our way through the remainder of the province,” Ridout explained.
Also coming in 2022, BC Transit is adding AVL technology, that will allow riders to see their buses’ location in real time.