Victorians may be able to put away their coins and paper day passes for good soon.
According to a recent announcement by Christy Ridout, Vice-President of Business Development for B.C. Transit, a $21 million improvement to the fare system on buses will allow commuters to purchase tickets through their smartphones.
The crown corporation is currently looking to partner with a company for this project, and expects to roll out the upgrade by late 2019 or early 2020.
With this new technology, commuters would be able to purchase tickets through an app on their phone, which can then be scanned upon entering the bus.
The end goal is to move the fare system to one which operates on payments via debit and credit cards, similar to the TransLink system in Vancouver which offers reloadable Compass Cards.
However people who do not have smartphones will not be left in the dust, as BC Transit buses will always accept cash fares even after the implementation of a smartphone fare structure.
