TransLink won’t be implementing a distance-based fare system until well after 2020, according to a report presented at its annual general meeting in Richmond on Wednesday.
The shift was one of several recommendations included in TransLink’s 2018 Transit Fare Review, and was approved last summer.
But the agency’s first quarterly report says Compass technology upgrades will be required to handle the more complex fares.
The report said a finalized business case, including costs, could be produced by 2020, with implementation of the new tech taking at least two years on top of that.
“We’ve got to convert elements of how Compass works to make that happen,” said TransLink CEO Kevin Desmond.
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“There’s not enough space on the card to manage a much more complicated fare table.”
Other recommendations in the fare review, such as looking at targeted time-of-day discounts to reduce overcrowding and expanded discounts for youth and low-income people, would be possible with current technology. Work on the ideas is scheduled throughout this year, the report said.
Asked why TransLink didn’t see the potential tech problems with the Compass system earlier, a TransLink spokesperson said that the fare review process itself was meant as a long-term road map for changes to the system.
“Further study has shown the Compass Card payment system must be upgraded from card-based to account-based if we are to offer distance-based fare pricing as described in the fare review,” said the spokesperson in an email.
“This technology was not available when TransLink moved to the Compass system.”
TransLink also announced Wednesday that it will establish a new Customer Advisory Panel made up of citizens to ensure the agency can ‘get it right’ as it goes through a major expansion.
Desmond said the panel will be made up of 12-20 people representing all stakeholders and parts of the region.
Details about who will be on the panel, and what its full mandate will be, will have to wait for the TransLink board to draw up the panel’s terms of reference, Desmond said.
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“Customers will provide us with direct feedback on key projects and initiatives,” Desmond said. “They’ll tell us what we’re doing each and every step along that customer journey.
“Are we getting the right information at the right time to our customers? Are we doing enough to improve the in-person experience? Are we moving fast enough to respond to their needs?”
Desmond said the panel’s input will be crucial as the system continues to expand — attracting more riders, but also putting more pressure on the system, despite recent service increases.
“Ridership is accelerating even faster than we can put out service. And that’s a challenge we have going forward,” Desmond said.
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