This is a response to Nadine Ku’s article. News Source
Being a commuter for much of my student life in high school has allowed me to believe how flawed our transit system is in Greater Vancouver. When Translink first announced an electronic ticketing system followed by the contest to name this system, I was relieved. Having been to Hong Kong and using it’s incredibly successfully Octopus Card system, I find it hard to believe how long it is taking Translink to adapt to it. Along with the costly project to implement ticketing gates and purchase machines in each Skytrain station, Compass cards have been rolled out for beta testing but are experience glitches with its “tap-out” feature. Errors with its technological system should not be happening because this is not new technology; Hong Kong has been using for over 17 years. The delay in the system has cost Translink a hefty amount of money because of the inflated costs of implementation.
One of the reasons why Translink thought the decision to introduce an electronic ticketing system was beneficial/lucrative was because of the amount of riders who don’t pay for fare. It has become incredibly common until recently, Translink tightened up on security to catch and fine the “free-riders.” Everyday until this system is released, implementation and “free-riders” will cost more of Translink’s money and take an even longer period of time to break even.
