New tap technology could improve transit system experience

VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) – Taking public transit could get a little easier if TransLink adopts a new system similar to the Compass Card.

“The open-loop system is a system where anybody can use the payment card they have in their wallet,” explains Ian Slater with MasterCard. “[Users] don’t have to go out and load or take advantage of an additional system which they have to load money on, they can just use the card that they have today in their wallet in the same way that they would do so for the rest of their purchases.”

Currently, Slater says the only live project in Canada is over in Laval, Quebec, but adds some form of the open-loop technology has already been deployed in about 80 cities around the world.

He claims the technology not only improves the user experience, but also saves cities significant amounts of money… by just making a simple switch from a “closed-loop” system to an open one.

“London estimated in the two years that they’ve been live with their system that they’ve saved around 100,000,000 GBP, which is very significant to a city.”

Slater explains adopting a credit-card capable technology would not only make things easier for local users, but would also help tourists and people visiting the city better utilize buses and trains.

In terms of security concerns, he says there are some precautions already in place, like a limit on how much a transactions can cost.

“The communication between the card and the reader is also significantly secured, so there’s no way that you can intercept that data and message packet that goes between the two of them.”

Whether TransLink has considered the technology, he says it has and adds the authority seems motivated to make it happen.

There’s still no word on the exact timeline, but Slater claims it won’t take decades, but instead could happen in the near future.

Top Stories

Top Stories

Most Watched Today