Arc Smart Fare System

[fromyeg]

Is there a plan for an ‘Arc Card App?’

Is there a plan for contactless payment with credit or debit cards?

I hope it wouldn’t be too hard to implement with the machines having already been installed on buses and at LRT stations.

Both of these would make taking transit much easier and would get more people taking transit!

(Apologies if this has already been discussed before. Seems like a logical next step.)

 

[Barnaby]

Yes there is a plan for both of these things. The readers are interac ready for mobile and cc/debit payments.

Do not underestimate the average infrequent user's ability to complicate these things. Countless times have a seen people still refuse to use tap when the kiosks are there (Edmonton, New York, and Vancouver). ARC allows for less tech trusting users to simply buy a loaded card. This isn't a bad thing, even though I think these people are making life harder for themselves.

I still think having an ARC app on your phone should get you better rates. It can replace the bus pass system.

 

[CplKlinger]

Youth and student fare is launching on Monday, September 25: https://myemail.constantcontact.com...h-Arc.html?soid=1127191170163&aid=pnKzefIMk_c

 

[IanO]

Older fare vending machines turn off November 1​

October 18, 2023 On November 1, Edmonton Transit Service (ETS) will decommission older fare vending machines across the transit system and begin to replace them with Arc fare vending machines. This initiative is part of the continued implementation of the regional Arc fare payment system. Riders will no longer be able to purchase ETS paper tickets or passes from these machines in transit spaces. Single-use Arc tickets and reloadable Arc cards can be purchased through Arc fare vending machines. These Arc fare products will provide the majority of riders with a comparable fare option and offer more modern payment methods, including payment by cash, debit or credit cards. For more information on Arc, visitmyArc.ca. The decommissioned machines will be turned off until they can be removed and replaced. On-site signage will indicate machines are no longer in operation and will direct riders to Arc fare vending machines. Once the older fare vending machines are removed, Arc fare vending machines will be moved into their place. All fare products that were available in the older machines, including paper tickets, will remain available at ETS sales outlets throughout the city and through the online ETS store: shop.edmonton.ca. ETS paper ticket validators will also remain available in transit spaces.​

From left to right: an older fare machine and an Arc fare vending machine.​

For more information: edmonton.ca/etswheretobuy shop.edmonton.ca Media contact: Samantha MacAulay Communications Coordinator City Operations​

​

 

[quit]

Does anyone know when they plan to implement tap to pay using a credit card or google/apple pay on the readers?

 

[CplKlinger]

Does anyone know when they plan to implement tap to pay using a credit card or google/apple pay on the readers?

They don't list a specific date, but they say it'll happen once all the fare groups are rolled out on Arc.

 

[trevorhayden]

Did anyone notice Vancouver's fare payment machines are the exact same as Edmonton's old machines?

 

[Kosy123]

Did anyone notice Vancouver's fare payment machines are the exact same as Edmonton's old machines?

Yup! I am still annoyed at my inability to tap to refill my Compass Card.

 

[dkazzed]

When did Edmonton get their old TVMs?

I had to look up if Vancouver's pre-Compass TVMs were also the same, nope. But look, debit/credit payments since 2000 lol. I remember visiting Edmonton in 2018 prior to moving here expecting to be able to pay for my LRT with debit, and then having to find an ABM.

And those awful magnetic stripe tickets/faresavers that took forever to read.

 

[Aaron_Lloyd]

I remember when I first moved here I bought like 6 tickets from one of these ticket machines expecting I could use them over the next week or two... I was very annoyed when they came out of the machine pre-stamped lol

Good riddance to them.

 

[David A]

I'm ok for single use Arc cards as long as you do not have to pay more than for other current single use transit items. Who other than transit charges extra for a plastic (or will this be paper) card?

 

[whatchyyc]

I'm ok for single use Arc cards as long as you do not have to pay more than for other current single use transit items. Who other than transit charges extra for a plastic (or will this be paper) card?

Arc tickets are paper

 

[EdwardEdm]

When did Edmonton get their old TVMs?

I had to look up if Vancouver's pre-Compass TVMs were also the same, nope. But look, debit/credit payments since 2000 lol. I remember visiting Edmonton in 2018 prior to moving here expecting to be able to pay for my LRT with debit, and then having to find an ABM.

And those awful magnetic stripe tickets/faresavers that took forever to read.

Edmonton never got Translink's old TVM's. The other poster just commented that Edmonton and Vancouver had the same basic machines, and they are right. Both were supplied by Cubic, Translink's machines just had more bells and whistles than Edmonton's. Indeed, Translink's newest machines look even more similar to the Edmonton machines than the one posted earlier in this thread.

 

[Gronk!]

Arc tickets are paper

View attachment 514235

My Arc card is plastic. I purchased my card from a vending machine at the Central LRT station in July of this year.

 

[Seamusmuldrew]

My Arc card is plastic. I purchased my card from a vending machine at the Central LRT station in July of this year.

View attachment 514237

Arc cards are plastic, arc tickets are not