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| Fare vending machines at the entrance to King George Station. Select image to enlarge. |
Last summer, the Mayors’ Council on Regional Transportation approved TransLink moving forward with changing the current SkyTrain zone-based fare system to a distance-based fare system. The current West Coast Express fare structure was also approved to be changed into a simpler station-by-station fare structure. There was also proposed improvements to HandyDART fares. You can read more about this in a post I wrote last summer.
Changing the fare structures means making changes to the Compass Card system. Because this is not a simple process, TransLink has now provided an implementation timeline for the fare structure changes that were approved last summer in the most recent Open Board Meeting Reports package.
The following outlines the implementation timelines for the approved fare recommendations:
Explore introducing new flexible products: Finalized plan and cost estimates for new flexible products anticipated by end of 2019. Implementation could begin by 2020.
Accept Concession fares on HandyDART: Finalized plan and cost estimates anticipated by end of 2019. Implementation could begin by 2020.
Develop business case for targeted discounts to help reduce overcrowding: Throughout this year.
Explore expanded discounts for youth and low income through discussions with the Province: Throughout this year.
Finer-grained distance-based pricing (based on distance between stations or stops) on gated system (SkyTrain, SeaBus, West Coast Express): Finalized business case including cost in 2020. If approved, implementation would take two years.
Restructure prepaid monthly passes by distance, instead of zones: Finalized business case including cost in 2020. If approved, implementation would take two years.
The majority of transit riders will not experience any changes to the fare system structure until at least 2022/23.
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