Edmonton Transit Service and our regional transit partners are pleased to share that we are one step closer to implementing the smart fare electronic fare payment system, known as Arc, with the next phase of our testing.
Starting January 1, hundreds of Adult Pay-As-You-Go (PAYG) riders will be testing the system throughout the City of Edmonton and the six participating regions, including: Beaumont, Fort Saskatchewan, Leduc, Spruce Grove, St. Albert and Strathcona County.
The pilot is made up of transit riders from all over the region who will be testing every aspect of Arc, as the public would use it, by using the Arc website, loading money onto their Arc cards, using an Arc fare vending machine and tapping on and off while on transit. The pilot testers are joining our U-Pass riders who successfully transitioned to Arc in late summer.
PAYG with fare capping allows riders to pay for one trip at a time up to a maximum amount for a day or month. This replaces the need to buy paper tickets and monthly passes. During the pilot, other riders can continue to pay for transit with monthly passes, paper tickets or cash.
A thorough evaluation of the pilot will be conducted at the end of March to ensure the system is fully ready to welcome adult transit riders. Arc will continue to roll out in phases to allow for testing to create a smooth experience as possible for riders. The remaining fare categories and fare programs for broader use by the public will be launched throughout 2022.
