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Compass Card is on its way! Bus fare changes too!

Compass Card is on its way! Bus fare changes too!

https://youtu.be/1Gs8wvWWLVM

Ready, set, tap!

Come this fall, more TransLink customers will be making the move to the Compass Card!

Joining the 130,000 customers already tapping on the system, riders will continue to see Compass roll out in phases until the fall when everyone will start tapping.

Compass Vending Machines (CVMs) will be activated in August to prepare for the switch over. Working station-by-station,  it will take approximately 8 weeks to get all the machines up and running!

When all CVMs are ready to go, riders will then be able to start buying single-use tickets from CVMs at SkyTrain and SeaBus terminals.

By late October, Compass Cards will be available to the general public to buy for use on all transit services — just in time for monthly pass holders to load November’s month pass on their Compass Card!

After this date, Compass Cards will be available from CVMs, by mail, online, phone request and in person at the Compass retailer network or Compass walk-in centres.

But Compass Card is not the only fare payment change in the works!

Starting October 5th, bus-only trips — no matter the time of the day— will only cost you a one-zone fare. So if you are an adult, your bus fare will cost you $2.75 no matter which bus you are on, the day, the time or number of zones travelled.

This change in bus fare is all in the name of helping our customers adjust to the tapping system. Trips made by bus will now only require one tap at the beginning of travel. In other words, you don’t have to tap off the bus!

This shift will ensure customers only pay for the travel they’ve taken, even if they forget to tap out as they exit the bus.

In case you’re wondering, fares will remain the same for SkyTrain, SeaBus, Canada Line and West Coast Express travel. Tapping requirements for trips made by these services will still require tapping at the beginning and end of travel.

If you think your tapping skills may need some work or if you have  some Compass Card questions, don’t worry we got you covered.

As a part of our Compass public education program, staff will be out at stations later this month to support the switch to CVMs.

Staff will help customers learn how to use the new machines and understand the ins-and-outs of tapping as well as answer your questions and provide support. And don’t forget askcompass.ca!

Who’s ready to get tapping?

 

UPDATE: Hi folks. In an effort to make these changes clearer, here’s the three things you’ll need to know about Compass and bus fares this fall and winter:

1. All buses are one zone fare.

2. If your trip includes rail and/or boat modes of travel (SkyTrain incl. Canada Line), SeaBus, West Coast Express) you will continue to pay for the zones you travel – the same as you do today.

3. While Compass cards continue to be distributed this fall/winter via terminals, having the card sent by mail, and at vendors etc., both the existing fare media (single ticket, transfers, FareCards etc.) and Compass Cards can be used on the entire transit system. Not until all the rail and boat mode stations are at a stage where they can close their gates will the use of non-Compass fare media be phased out.

I hope that makes things clearer. Let us know if it doesn’t. Here’s a link to the press release.

UPDATE: Cathy McLay, CFO & Executive Vice President, Finance and Corporate Services for TransLink, announces the latest updates to Compass Card and bus fares in Metro Vancouver

Author: Laura Tennant

TransLink

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