THUNDER BAY – Transit riders will start to notice a new farebox when they board their bus.
The city has begun installing the fareboxes in its fleet in the first phase of the project. Once fully implemented, transit riders can purchase a reloadable card to make a payment.
Passengers can still use bus tickets, monthly passes, or cash to pay for their bus fare upon boarding.
Laura Daniels, supervisor of customer care and administrative services with transit services, said the new tap system “will provide riders with convenient accessible payment options.”
The new system won’t be fully implemented until spring.
In addition to the tap card system, the new farebox will also issue transfers.
“Right now, traditional paper transfers are punched with the 90-minute window on it and going forward they'll be able to issue it directly off of the farebox,” said Daniels.
Brad Loroff, manager of transit services, said the new fareboxes are part of Thunder Bay’s digital strategy, as laid out in the city transportation master plan.
When asked why the city decided to use a reloadable tap card rather than installing a system that would use a debit or credit card, Loroff said “there are payment rules around the use of debit and credit (cards).”
“There are not a lot of transit systems that have a complete open payment for debit and credit applications, so these are features that we're continuing to look at,” said Loroff.
He added the system they are installing can eventually utilize a debt or credit tap system, but for the time being “it's primarily a reloadable card, which is commonly used across the transit industry.”
Daniels said the city plans to roll out a pilot program for anyone who wants to be part of an early test group of the new system.
She said details of the pilot program will be released in the coming months.
“Right now, we're currently still undergoing installation, as well as, then we have testing that needs to be completed before we're ready to introduce it to the public,” said Daniels.
