Halifax moves forward with mobile phone ticketing application for transit service

Halifax is moving forward with the next phase of its transit fare management strategy, which it will begin by procuring a mobile ticketing application.

That means riders onboard Halifax Transit could soon show bus drivers that they’ve paid theirs by showing their smartphone to bus drivers.

Tuesday saw Halifax Regional Council unanimously pass the recommendations put forward in a municipal staff report, which outlined the next steps Halifax Transit will take as it moves towards a cashless system by 2025.

The Halifax Transit manager technical services manager Marc Santilli told council that the move towards the app will happen “quickly” but that existing forms of payment such as cash and tickets will remain available for now.

The municipality has cancelled the adoption of large, dollar-bill-sized tickets — described as “Willy Wonka tickets” by Coun. Lindell Smith on Tuesday —  in favour of the mobile application.

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As part of its efforts, the municipality assessed four different options: reloadable plastic cards, limited-use smart cards, a mobile ticketing app and tapping credit or debit cards.

A mobile app was decided as the easiest and most affordable way to begin the process of moving towards an electronic fare system as it avoided installing new scanners or technology.

It will be the first phase of the new fare payment system, with automated validation of mobile ticketing, reloadable plastic cards and tapping credit or debit cards coming after that.

However, the adoption of the app does come with its own risks, including the possibility that fares could increase depending on the agreement reached with the app developer.

“Specifics of these impacts would be provided in a subsequent report following the procurement process,” the report reads.

Another issue raised in the report is the issue of accessibility, with only 78 per cent of residents in Atlantic Canada owning cell phones.

Coun. Paul Russell said he would continue to advocate against the adoption of a completely cashless transit service.

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Dave Reage, director of Halifax Transit, told council on Tuesday that a plan to be cashless by 2025 is meant as an aspirational goal and that it would mean that the service would have the technology to do so.

“That would be a drastic move and would have to be vetted and approved through council,” said Dave Reage, director of Halifax Transit.

Staff told council that they have yet to figure out what a cashless service would look like for those without a smartphone but said that remains a significant distance in the future.