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Arc Smart Fare System

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.
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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.
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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.
 
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.
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it would appear that the contractor has recently been awarded the following:
  • 2017 UK National Transport Awards: Transport Supplier of the Year - Joint Winner
  • 2018 Transport Ticketing Global: Best Smart Ticketing Programme Award - Winner
  • 2021 Australian Good Design Awards: Product Design - Commercial and Industry category - Gold Accolade
  • 2021 INCITE Awards: Dr Mal Bryce Tech Company of the Year - Winner
  • 2021 HRD Australian HR Awards: Best Remote Work Strategy - Winner
the contractor is also renowned for supplying the equipment and software for what are considered some of the largest and best systems in the world:

Hong Kong, San Francisco, Stockholm, Singapore, Cape Town, Ashdod, Beijing, Boston, Bouches Du Rhone, Brest, Cape Town, Vermont, Dijon, Gothenburg, Grenoble, Tehran, Sydney, Las Vegas (Monorail), London, Melbourne, Netanya, Oslo, Seattle / Puget Sound Region, Rome, Stockholm, Tel Aviv, Toulon, Tours, Vallenciennes...

some of those contracts have been in place for decades. so, while i’m sure they’re not perfect, i’m thinking that their track record dealing with clients might be a bit stronger than edmonton’s dealing with contractors and subcontractors, i’m thinking that their track record dealing with clients might be a bit stronger than edmonton’s track record dealing with contractors and subcontractors.
 
kcantor said:
it would appear that the contractor has recently been awarded the following:
  • 2017 UK National Transport Awards: Transport Supplier of the Year - Joint Winner
  • 2018 Transport Ticketing Global: Best Smart Ticketing Programme Award - Winner
  • 2021 Australian Good Design Awards: Product Design - Commercial and Industry category - Gold Accolade
  • 2021 INCITE Awards: Dr Mal Bryce Tech Company of the Year - Winner
  • 2021 HRD Australian HR Awards: Best Remote Work Strategy - Winner
the contractor is also renowned for supplying the equipment and software for what are considered some of the largest and best systems in the world:

Hong Kong, San Francisco, Stockholm, Singapore, Cape Town, Ashdod, Beijing, Boston, Bouches Du Rhone, Brest, Cape Town, Vermont, Dijon, Gothenburg, Grenoble, Tehran, Sydney, Las Vegas (Monorail), London, Melbourne, Netanya, Oslo, Seattle / Puget Sound Region, Rome, Stockholm, Tel Aviv, Toulon, Tours, Vallenciennes...

some of those contracts have been in place for decades. so, while i’m sure they’re not perfect, i’m thinking that their track record dealing with clients might be a bit stronger than edmonton’s dealing with contractors and subcontractors, i’m thinking that their track record dealing with clients might be a bit stronger than edmonton’s track record dealing with contractors and subcontractors.
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It could be a mixture of reasons between both parties, but I don't think that being a renowned company means they have their act together. Look at Boeing for example; that 'too big to fail' attitude didn't stop them from having that Max fiasco. In fact, it contributed to it because people got complacent. Back to this, one of the issues slowing them down is that taps can take hours to register; I can tap on and off at 8:30 and 9:00, but they might not show up in the back end until 1:00 or later. Now, this isn't an example of attitude or work issues, but it's also not something that Edmonton can be faulted for.

All that's to say I think it's hard to completely blame either party without knowing the full story. I should have been more nuanced in my comment, but I won't disregard what I heard from a city employee just because this company has done good work in other places. My friend is more than happy to tell me when he thinks the city is doing something dumb (which isn't rare lol), so I trust that what he's telling me isn't biased.
 
kcantor said:
it would appear that the contractor has recently been awarded the following:
  • 2017 UK National Transport Awards: Transport Supplier of the Year - Joint Winner
  • 2018 Transport Ticketing Global: Best Smart Ticketing Programme Award - Winner
  • 2021 Australian Good Design Awards: Product Design - Commercial and Industry category - Gold Accolade
  • 2021 INCITE Awards: Dr Mal Bryce Tech Company of the Year - Winner
  • 2021 HRD Australian HR Awards: Best Remote Work Strategy - Winner
the contractor is also renowned for supplying the equipment and software for what are considered some of the largest and best systems in the world:

Hong Kong, San Francisco, Stockholm, Singapore, Cape Town, Ashdod, Beijing, Boston, Bouches Du Rhone, Brest, Cape Town, Vermont, Dijon, Gothenburg, Grenoble, Tehran, Sydney, Las Vegas (Monorail), London, Melbourne, Netanya, Oslo, Seattle / Puget Sound Region, Rome, Stockholm, Tel Aviv, Toulon, Tours, Vallenciennes...

some of those contracts have been in place for decades. so, while i’m sure they’re not perfect, i’m thinking that their track record dealing with clients might be a bit stronger than edmonton’s dealing with contractors and subcontractors, i’m thinking that their track record dealing with clients might be a bit stronger than edmonton’s track record dealing with contractors and subcontractors.
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Sounds like Cubic not Vix?
 
The infobox on the city's smart fare page was just updated: "We are currently confirming interest with eligible riders who expressed interest in being a pilot volunteer. If you applied to be a volunteer, please check your email to confirm your interest by December 17. "

Also: "Starting January 1, 2022, a select group of regular adult fare riders will be the first group of riders to use the Arc system as part of the pilot. They will put money into an online Arc account that is linked to the Arc card, and then they tap on/tap off buses and LRT stations as they ride anywhere in all 7 participating regions. "
 
CplKlinger said:
The infobox on the city's smart fare page was just updated: "We are currently confirming interest with eligible riders who expressed interest in being a pilot volunteer. If you applied to be a volunteer, please check your email to confirm your interest by December 17. "

Also: "Starting January 1, 2022, a select group of regular adult fare riders will be the first group of riders to use the Arc system as part of the pilot. They will put money into an online Arc account that is linked to the Arc card, and then they tap on/tap off buses and LRT stations as they ride anywhere in all 7 participating regions. "
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I actually received an e-mail earlier today for this confirmation!
 
ChazYEG said:
I actually received an e-mail earlier today for this confirmation!
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That's so exciting! Will you take part in it? Does it say *how* you'll put money on your online account (EG whether myarc.ca will be functional)?
 
Long awaited; overdue.

I wish they had called it the Aurora pass or something like that.

---

Arc riders set to pilot the system on January 1
December 14, 2021



Edmonton Transit Service and our regional transit partners are pleased to share that we are one step closer to implementing the smart fare electronic fare payment system, known as Arc, with the next phase of our testing.

Starting January 1, hundreds of Adult Pay-As-You-Go (PAYG) riders will be testing the system throughout the City of Edmonton and the six participating regions, including: Beaumont, Fort Saskatchewan, Leduc, Spruce Grove, St. Albert and Strathcona County.

The pilot is made up of transit riders from all over the region who will be testing every aspect of Arc, as the public would use it, by using the Arc website, loading money onto their Arc cards, using an Arc fare vending machine and tapping on and off while on transit. The pilot testers are joining our U-Pass riders who successfully transitioned to Arc in late summer.

PAYG with fare capping allows riders to pay for one trip at a time up to a maximum amount for a day or month. This replaces the need to buy paper tickets and monthly passes. During the pilot, other riders can continue to pay for transit with monthly passes, paper tickets or cash.

A thorough evaluation of the pilot will be conducted at the end of March to ensure the system is fully ready to welcome adult transit riders. Arc will continue to roll out in phases to allow for testing to create a smooth experience as possible for riders. The remaining fare categories and fare programs for broader use by the public will be launched throughout 2022.


For more information:
edmonton.ca/Arc

Media contact:
Adrienne Cloutier
Senior Communications Advisor
Communication and Engagement
780-691-4347
 
A friend (who shall remain nameless) sent the website for Arc pilot participants my way. PM me if you're interested in receiving the info, I don't want to put it "out there" on a public website out of respect for my friend, and the transit agencies. Lest I cause a delay or get the login info changed!

I made an account for the heck of it, even though I'm not a participant (since I'm a upass user). It actually worked though, and my entire tap history is there! The website looks very similar to the concept one I found earlier (http://52.60.239.185/). It looks like they anticipated leakages, since they changed the banner at the top to clarify that Arc cards are not for sale right now. Some interesting info from the FAQs:

Only usage within Edmonton will have a daily fare cap, which is $10.25. Regional usage will only have a (unspecified) monthly fare cap. Low income pass users will have a lower daily/monthly fare cap than regular fare payers.
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