One zone bus fare will see more riders, but same number of buses: TransLink

TransLink announced that they will switch buses to the current $2.75 one zone fare across Metro Vancouver, all day, every day starting October 5, so you might expect bigger crowds on your route.

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Chief Financial Officer Cathy McLay, who’s set to become TransLink’s CEO on August 11, said in a press conference that she does not expect any lost revenue from eliminating two and three zone fares on buses because more people will ride buses.

“People can take the buses, which is much slower than our rapid transit system, and we think by offering the one zone fare on buses it will increase ridership. On net, we think it will all balance out,” she said.

“Over 80% of our bus routes are one zone anyway.”

She said there will be no additional bus services to accommodate the expected increased ridership.

“Unfortunately with a ‘no’ plebiscite, there is no increase in transit services.”

McClay said they will use this time to gather data on ridership from Compass transit users. Even though people with the card won’t be tapping off when they exit a bus, she says “smart technology” should fill in the blanks for the lack of data in that area.

Compass Card machines will be rolling out over the next month. Compass Vending Machines will start appearing in Skytrain and Seabus stations, at first dispensing single-use tickets, and then Compass Cards by late October.

Retail outlets will start selling Compass Cards by November.