Halifax Transit updating outdated payment options with new app

Halifax gets Halifax Transit app A new app, called HFXGO, will let Halifax Transit users make mobile fare payments, but a pay-as-you-go option won’t be available until 2024.

Public transit in Halifax is becoming a necessity for many people in the city.

“We ride it all the time because these days, you can’t afford a car,” says Sherry Jennings.

Right now, anyone taking the bus or ferry has to buy a pass or use exact change to get on board, both of which can be inconvenient.

“You have to go to certain places that sell them like the pharmacies, drug stores, places, like that, or where you go buy tickets, scratch tickets, lotto tickets,” Jennings says.

“If you could tap with a card like your debit card. If you could just go in and tap on the bus and keep going it wouldn’t hold up the buses for long and it would make life so much easier because you’re not looking for change in your pocket.”

That plan is coming, eventually. The city announced today their long-awaited mobile fare payment app called HFXGO.

“It’s finally the right app,” says HRM Councillor Tony Mancini.

Mancini says HFXGO will be released in phases. The pay-as-you-go option won’t be available until spring.

“The vendor is one that does big transit systems in Europe and the UK so they’re experienced at it so we’re taking that guidance from them to get this immediate step in first,” Mancini says.

“It would be nice to have the tap and go now, but this is the process in front of us and it’s an improvement over the tickets for sure.”

“I came from a big city and there we have a card that we use as a contactless payment inside the bus and the subway,” adds Leticia Reis, a university student from Sao Paolo, Brazil.

“According to city officials, the new app will eliminate the need for paper transfers. Once the ticket is activated, it can be used as your transfer and it’ll be good for two and a half hours.”

Mancini hopes once transit becomes easier to use, more people will get on board.

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