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Arc Smart Fare System

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.
Click to expand...
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)?
 
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.
ArcOne.PNG
ArcThree.PNG
ArcTwo.PNG
 
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My ARC pilot card came in the mail. The sign-up process went mostly alright. FYI for those who get there's the card number that's asked for in the sign-up form is the part of the number labeled as "ACCOUNT NUMBER" on the back of the card. Also the activation email was automatically sorted into the 'Promotions' tab of my Gmail account, in case you anyone else has issues finding it like I initially did.

ARC 1.PNG


Reload process also went alright. They seem to take Visa, Mastercard and even Amex which is nice. Frustratingly though there doesn't appear to be a way right now to have the system remember your card details so you'll have to fill the card details and your billing address every time you want to reload from online. (Edit: nvm, see CplKlinger's post below)

ARC 2.PNG

Looking forward to giving it a shot after January 1 (per the instructions letter).
 
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Aaron_Lloyd said:
Reload process also went alright. They seem to take Visa, Mastercard and even Amex which is nice. Frustratingly though there doesn't appear to be a way right now to have the system remember your card details so you'll have to fill the card details and your billing address every time you want to reload from online.
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Please keep us posted on how it goes! My friend is already using his, but I'm not sure if he was asked to start early or just decided to. You should be able to save your card info if you go in "My Account" and enter it. I just tried it on Chrome and logged in on Edge, and the card info was still there. It looks like you can add multiple credit cards and set one as your default payment method!
Arc.PNG


On another note, I'm glad to see that Fort Sask Transit has its fare vending machine set up! It's located in the Dow Centennial Centre, next door to the Park and Ride. I hear StAT Transit made a similar choice to have their fare machine in a rec centre, rather than "outside" at a transit centre, to help protect against vandalism and the elements. They're tough machines apparently, but I can understand why local agencies are playing it safe.
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