Victoria transit to move to smartphone fare purchasing

Commuters in Victoria, B.C., might soon be able touse theirsmartphones to pay forbus fare.

Right now, the city's bussystem operates on cash or paper tickets, but a $21-millionupgrade to the fare system could change that.

ChristyRidout, vice-president of business development for B.C. Transit, said the idea is for transit users to buy their fares on a mobile phone application,then scan their phone when entering the bus similar to checking in at an airport.

"The payment industry has come a long way in the last few years and I think we're really able to take advantage of some of the innovation that has occurred," said Ridout.

If the smart phone platform is successful, Ridout said the ultimate goal will be moving to fares being paid via debit or credit card, similar to Vancouver's TransLink system.

In Metro Vancouver, TransLink offers reloadableCompass cards. Ridout saidVictoria will not be exploring a Compass card option because theinfrastructurefor such a system is costly.

She said Compass cards require expensive vending machines to load the cards, and a comprehensive database on the back end to avoid fraud.

Ridoutnotedsome riders won't have a smartphone, and she doesn't want this new system to be seen as a barrier to customers. To that end, she said buses will not remove their cash boxes, and cashwill always be acceptable when buying fare.

Ridout said B.C. Transit is looking for a company to partner with in theendeavour, and estimates the new technology will come online in late 2019 or early 2020.

With files from All Points West