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Arc Smart Fare System

Someone on another forum commented that they did not think phase two would start by the end of the year, given how little time is left. Another user who's in the know responded with some interesting insight:

"They are still working on issues with the post-secondary roll out but hopefully this pilot helps work out more kinks while not delaying the completion of the initial phases. I think it will get started before the end of the year, even if the pilot is with 10 people. This is a "pay as you go" type pilot, and not passes like the post-secondary one is, so it should be interesting."

I asked them what kinks in particular were holding them back, to-which they responded:

"Data update frequency is hours delayed, so even though a student activates a card it might not be recognized by the Arc system until hours later. Phase 2 (pay-as-you-go) is already being worked on but not sure when it will launch officially."
 
I just noticed a subtle but interesting change to the Edmonton and St. Albert websites. The sub-heading for phase two of the rollout used to say "starting 2021", but that was scrubbed today. Here are archived versions (Edmonton, St. Albert) to show the difference. I know this change was made today because I check Edmonton's page every day, and yesterday that sub-heading still contained a specific ETA.
 
I dont get why this hasn't been an option for the last decade. Anyone know why? Seems like a no brainer for casual users and tourists. Then transit cards can be for regular users who want monthly maximums and all that.

dailyhive.com

TransLink riders will be able to tap debit cards on the Compass system | Urbanized

Contactless debit cards are being added as an option for fare payment on TransLink's Compass system, providing added convenience.
dailyhive.com dailyhive.com
 
thommyjo said:
I dont get why this hasn't been an option for the last decade. Anyone know why? Seems like a no brainer for casual users and tourists. Then transit cards can be for regular users who want monthly maximums and all that.

dailyhive.com

TransLink riders will be able to tap debit cards on the Compass system | Urbanized

Contactless debit cards are being added as an option for fare payment on TransLink's Compass system, providing added convenience.
dailyhive.com dailyhive.com
Click to expand...

Because ETS is about 20 years behind the times.
 
ChazYEG said:
That's accurate. I come from a midsize city in a third world country, and still, we got transit cards, with online loading and smart fares back in 2005.
It's unacceptable that Edmonton doesn't have it to this day
Click to expand...
But what about just debit or credit card use? Why is that not more common? Why the presto and compass and arc cards everywhere?
 
thommyjo said:
But what about just debit or credit card use? Why is that not more common? Why the presto and compass and arc cards everywhere?
Click to expand...
It is becoming cheaper now, with NFC technology taking off in the past two or three years, but it was operationally complex and extremely expensive. Also, up until maybe 4 or 5 years ago, most cards didn't use the NFC tech, so it would've been sorta pointless to spend all the money for a tech barely in use at the timem
The interface between the different payment systems is complicated, at the very least, and it was costly to implement (and few companies had the technical know-how to do it properly in this scale).
However, I do agree that it should become more common, possibly the norm, as technology has progressed and we now need very little more to implement it than we do to have regular transit cards.
 
occidentalcapital said:
I thought the Arc readers would accept credit/debit and apple pay, etc., am I mistaken?
Click to expand...
They will, but not until after they finish rolling out the Arc Cards and fix all the kinks.
 
Well, now we know that it'll cost $6 to buy an Arc card and load the initial funds, but Arc Cards aren't for sale yet. This was seen at McKernan/Belgravia station.
20211124_124531.jpg
20211124_124519.jpg
 
CplKlinger said:
I just noticed a subtle but interesting change to the Edmonton and St. Albert websites. The sub-heading for phase two of the rollout used to say "starting 2021", but that was scrubbed today. Here are archived versions (Edmonton, St. Albert) to show the difference. I know this change was made today because I check Edmonton's page every day, and yesterday that sub-heading still contained a specific ETA.
Click to expand...
Well, now we know why. The arc card rollout to fare paying users has been delayed to 2022 due to issues found during testing (tapping by upass users). https://edmontonjournal.com/news/local-news/edmonton-transit-fares-increase-february-2022
 
CplKlinger said:
Well, now we know why. The arc card rollout to fare paying users has been delayed to 2022 due to issues found during testing (tapping by upass users). https://edmontonjournal.com/news/local-news/edmonton-transit-fares-increase-february-2022
Click to expand...
Wish I could never deliver projects on time and still make six figures at my job :) really hope people are being let go that lead all of these projects plagued by endless delays and issues. I dont mean to be rude to the individuals, but at a certain point we just need competent people. The impact is too large when this stuff is done wrong, poorly, slowly, etc.
 
thommyjo said:
Wish I could never deliver projects on time and still make six figures at my job :) really hope people are being let go that lead all of these projects plagued by endless delays and issues. I dont mean to be rude to the individuals, but at a certain point we just need competent people. The impact is too large when this stuff is done wrong, poorly, slowly, etc.
Click to expand...
From what I heard from a friend who works for the city (but not in transit), the contractor in charge of this project has been a huge pain for city employees to work with. This is probably their screw-up, since they're in charge of both setting up the system and maintaining it for a number of years.
 
CplKlinger said:
From what I heard from a friend who works for the city (but not in transit), the contractor in charge of this project has been a huge pain for city employees to work with. This is probably their screw-up, since they're in charge of both setting up the system and maintaining it for a number of years.
Click to expand...
I recent heard similar things from a client who is working with the Transit. He wasn't as blunt, but hinted at difficult relations and some technical incompetence.
If I had to hazard a guess, I'd say that there's a lot of butting heads between the city and the contractor, which makes everyone's job harder and more painful.
 
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