All about Compass
April 4, 2014
|By Compass Team
All about Compass
April 4, 2014
|By Compass Team
Woohoo! We’ve reached 10 million taps since January 1. Thank you very much for your support of the Compass project.
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Congratulations on 10 million taps!
I’d like to see where TransLink’s progress is in terms of rolling out the card to the rest of its customers, as the rollout for West Coast Express was pushed back and there’s still no word on UPassBC customers as well. Is there a specific timeframe?
Those BC Bus Pass and CNIB customers are just tapping away so happily, I want in on the fun too :P
@Nick, thanks! We’re excited to let everyone in on the fun too!
To make sure we get it right for customers, we’re continuing with a staged introduction to Compass. With more than 85,000 cards in the system, people are actively tapping in and out on a daily basis already! The next customer group to receive Compass Cards in the coming months will be West Coast Express and other groups of customers will follow after that. As for U-Pass BC, we’re working with participating post-secondary institutions to determine what the rollout schedule will look like for each school.
With each stage, we’ll refine the system as needed, give customer lots of notice and make sure customers know how and when to get and use their Compass Cards. Stay tuned!
I tap on the bus but I rarely do on the Skytrain. When I asked security recently they said that most people don’t tap on the Skytrain. I’ve seen seniors walk onto the bus wearing their pass and not tapping, just like with the old passes.
@Sheba, part of the reason why you are rarely tapping in SkyTrain stations is the gates are still open, I am sure once the gates are closed, it will be a good reminder for everyone to tap in and out of SkyTrain. However, please do your best to remember to tap in and out of both bus and SkyTrain stations because the aggregated ridership data we collect through you simply taping in and taping out is very valuable. It helps our trip planners to know where the service is most needed.
I hear you, we know the tap out rate on buses is not optimal at the moment, some people are not tapping at all. Rest assured, we are working on a comprehensive marketing communications plan to remind people to tap in and tap out. You will be seeing a lot more Compass signage on buses and bus stops closer to the public launch.
I know why I’m rarely tapping at Skytrain – laziness mixed with a little bit of self consciousness. Not many people (compared to the whole transit riding population) have a Compass Card yet. Add to this that the Skytrain gates beep really loudly and I feel like I have an arrow pointing at me whenever I do tap in a Skytrain station.
As I understand it, for a 3 zone trip, there isn’t any benefit to tapping out since you’re charged for a 3 zone fare regardless of whether you do or don’t.
A 3 zone trip that uses a bus for part of the journey wouldn’t require tapping out on those legs. Which brings to mind the 160, TransLink’s sole remaining 3 zone route. It wouldn’t surprise me if there was a larger number of missed tap outs involving this route specifically.
Why not retroactively recalculate fares of people who tap off if they tap on and off another route? In this instance, TransLink still gets that crucial data and passengers are not unduly punished for a missed tap out.
@cliff, thanks for the comment. I understand tapping in and out is a new habit that takes time to form and I do hear your point on not needing to tap out on a 3 zone route (160 as you mentioned) because there isn’t financial penalties. However, we still encourage you to get used to taping in and taping out for one day if you don’t have a 3 zone pass, we certainly don’t want customers to be charged the wrong amount. As to your comment on data, the data we collect from you tapping (even when you have a 3 zone pass) help us improve service. Knowing where riders leave the system is important to understanding the length of travel times, suitability of stop locations, etc. Not everyone transfers to other vehicles/modes after leaving a 3-Zone bus and we cannot easily tell with any certainty where someone exited based on where they enter the system the next time. Therefore, please do remember to tap in and tap out even when you have a 3 zone pass. That said, we know it will take time to get in the habit of tapping out. If you do forget, you can give our customer service centre a call and they’ll be happy to help you out and make it right.
CTV media update…
http://bc.ctvnews.ca/video?clipId=371372