Acting transit manager Gordon Dykstra demonstrates how the new electronic fare system will work (Photo Courtesy Gates Guarin)

By Gates Guarin

won't replace cash system

Contact-less fare system gives transit riders a new option

Aug 30, 2022 | 4:48 PM

MEDICINE HAT, AB – Hatters will be seeing some new upgrades when they hop on city transit this coming fall.

Medicine Hat Transit made the announcement to add a new electronic fare system to their fleet, with re-loadable transit passes. The new cards, which will be called MH Go! passes, will be available for purchase anywhere paper passes are currently sold. These cards can be loaded with funds through an online account or at a fare vendor.

The cards can be tapped or scanned at the new electronic terminals which will be equipped on buses during the month of September. Transit will also use the time to test the terminals, as well as train drivers to use the new equipment.

According to MH Transit acting manager Gordon Dykstra, riders were surveyed in 2019 in order to gauge the interest in an electronic fare system, which he says received strong support. The project largely came together due to the COVID-19 pandemic, in which concerns were raised about contact on transit. Federal grant money to put towards technological support was received, which helped fund the setup, installation and launch of the project.

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We won’t be turning the system on until we know that it’s functioning exactly the way we want it to. _{Gordon Dykstra, acting transit manager}

Dykstra outlined what riders can expect to see in the coming months.

“It’s very simple,” Dykstra says. “For the first few months, we’ll be running both systems side by side, so you can go to the store, you can buy a paper pass and you can show that pass to your driver, or you could purchase a tap card and tap and go that way, just so people don’t feel under pressure. They can relax, it’ll be familiar and we can put out information on the system so they can understand how it works.”

Dykstra says he has already received some concerns about the new fare system replacing cash, but he was quick to put those concerns to rest.

“We are not going away from cash payment; you’ll still be able to pay cash for a single fare as you do now,” says Dykstra.

Transit is anticipating a full rollout of the system by mid-October. Dykstra says plenty of troubleshooting will occur as the system is tested during the installation.

“We won’t be turning the system on until we know that it’s functioning exactly the way we want it to,” says Dykstra. “And even once we do turn it on, we’ll be running the paper pass system alongside this system, and we’ll have a window into what’s going on. So I don’t envision any inconveniences that will affect our customers directly that we can’t resolve extremely quickly.”