Geez, took you long enough Translink!

[Levitron]

http://www.translink.ca/en/About-Tra...-Faregate.aspx

TransLink selects companies to propose Smart Card / Faregate system for transit
May 28, 2010

Three consortia that supply smart card electronic fare payment systems and faregates to some of the biggest transit operations in the world have qualified to submit proposals to supply a Smart Card and Faregate system for TransLink, to be in operation by the target date of first quarter of 2013. The three groups are:

Thales/Octopus International Projects – creator of the ‘Octopus Card’ used on Hong Kong’s transit service and supplier of similar systems in the Netherlands, Norway and Dubai.

Serco/Parkeon – who introduced a complete smart card program for Perth, Australia and have provided related systems to transit operations in Belgium, England and Dubai, as well as to the French national rail system, SNCF.

Cubic/IBM – whose systems include London’s ‘Oyster Card’ and systems for US transit agencies in Los Angeles, Atlanta, Miami-Dade, San Francisco plus Brisbane in Australia.

The three groups were among 10 that responded to TransLink’s ‘Request for Qualifications,’ a process that identifies suppliers with the technology and the track record to provide the systems and services needed. The next stage in the process will launch in June when these groups will be asked to develop formal proposals based on TransLink’s specific requirements.

[twitchyzero]

hopefully by then i will never have to take vancouver's transit
the only great thing about translink is the 99 b-line and canada line

[Mugen EvOlutioN]

3 years from now eh, still a long time

[StylinRed]

there wasn't a suitable Canadian company to at least hear a proposal from?


(where's the 2012 guy)

[canucksfan]

Not sure if this will actually work. Would require a ton of modification to the sky train stations if they went with the Octopus card. And would require a lot more supervision to ensure people to jump the gates. In the end it probably won't even be worth it.

[Mugen EvOlutioN]

^

i think it will


its like that in asia everywhere u go

[CRS]

They should name it the Orca Card just to keep with the 'O' trend.

[CP.AR]

Octopus shall prevail!! Link the systems together wowooooo

[Tapioca]

Originally Posted by canucksfan

Not sure if this will actually work. Would require a ton of modification to the sky train stations if they went with the Octopus card. And would require a lot more supervision to ensure people to jump the gates. In the end it probably won't even be worth it.

You can't eliminate fare evasion - you can only control it.

While I appreciate systems like HK's Octopus and London's Oyster, implementing such a system here is mainly for optics if you are to take Translink's numbers on fare evasion at face value (which amounts to fare evasion to being less than 5%.) $100+ million to spend is an awful lot of money that will take a decade or more to recover (again if we are to take Translink's numbers at face value.) If you do a bit of sleuthing, even anecdotes from attendants and Transit police do not prove the general perception that fare evasion is costing Translink millions each year.

Practically speaking, fare evasion should be incorporated into budgets and handled from a risk-management perspective.

[Levitron]

Originally Posted by Tapioca

You can't eliminate fare evasion - you can only control it.

While I appreciate systems like HK's Octopus and London's Oyster, implementing such a system here is mainly for optics if you are to take Translink's numbers on fare evasion at face value (which amounts to fare evasion to being less than 5%.) $100+ million to spend is an awful lot of money that will take a decade or more to recover (again if we are to take Translink's numbers at face value.) If you do a bit of sleuthing, even anecdotes from attendants and Transit police do not prove the general perception that fare evasion is costing Translink millions each year.

Practically speaking, fare evasion should be incorporated into budgets and handled from a risk-management perspective.

But you see, that's where you can start licensing this technology to the greater business community as a whole to recover costs. You set up the systems, and have the rest of the community "chip in". I believe this goes a bit beyond what Translink itself could lose out on...but rather, what it can get from involving everyone else in on this.

[CRS]

Originally Posted by Levitron

But you see, that's where you can start licensing this technology to the greater business community as a whole to recover costs. You set up the systems, and have the rest of the community "chip in". I believe this goes a bit beyond what Translink itself could lose out on...but rather, what it can get from involving everyone else in on this.

As long as I can use the card and go to 7-eleven to pick up a pineapple bun, I'm happy.

[Tapioca]

Originally Posted by Levitron

But you see, that's where you can start licensing this technology to the greater business community as a whole to recover costs. You set up the systems, and have the rest of the community "chip in". I believe this goes a bit beyond what Translink itself could lose out on...but rather, what it can get from involving everyone else in on this.

Yep, didn't think about that. The problem is getting business buy-in.

I will adjust my intial position on this and say that a smartcard system is good and that it should be de-coupled from the turnstiles. I think most people would embrace a system in which they could load up 20-40 bucks on a card and not worry about looking for change. Also, the system would make short trips fairer.

[dachinesedude]

Good system, but it doesnt make sense here, not enough demand to justify for the high price of implementing it, IMO

[G]

Don't think it will work as well as it does in places like HK. We don't have enough people and we also have a larger majority of people that drive. It also means that translink has to change all of their stations to fit to this new "card".

It would make more sense to use that mastercard fast card swipe beeping thing they use on vending machines etc...

[tiger_handheld]

why do card systems have sea creature names? Oyster / Octopus

will the vancouver card be called Salmon?

[shenmecar]

Originally Posted by tiger_handheld

why do card systems have sea creature names? Oyster / Octopus

will the vancouver card be called Salmon?

Beluga Card ftw

[SoulCrusher]

I take the skytrain everyday for work. Over the course of the last 11 months, I have only been checked once. Though I always buy a monthly pass, Ive always been tempted to try my luck. I would think that if the majority of those taking transit are paying for their fares, translink wouldnt resort to jacking up fee's a few times a year for those that do pay. Not only that, this will also have security benefits on the trains and platforms.

[hk20000]

but it just feels so backwards country to not have a fare gate system....

If you need a direct comparison the LRT in HK has no fare gates but an octopus system....I have no idea how good that works in terms of catching evasion but it is a cheaper system involving less mechanical parts and stuff....

Anyway that's a good move, we have been known to be carefree crime tolerance for way too long, even for the image alone I think it's worthy investment.

[Marioo1991]

I think in the short term it will be very expensive, but it will be a good idea in the long run the more dense the city gets...

If they eventually switch over to that system, I'm going to miss watching people run up the opposite side of the escalator when theyre checking for fares

[Jackygor]

Octopus Card type cards are brutally efficient. Because of that, I think it is the reason why MTR is ranked amongst the most efficient type of public transit in the world.

[JSALES]

still quite a while from now

[misteranswer]

Originally Posted by Jackygor

Octopus Card type cards are brutally efficient. Because of that, I think it is the reason why MTR is ranked amongst the most efficient type of public transit in the world.

I thought it was because of the 7 million people crammed in to small space.

[_TiDy_]

Originally Posted by tiger_handheld

why do card systems have sea creature names? Oyster / Octopus

will the vancouver card be called Salmon?

Gotta stick with the "O"'s , Orca card ftw

[Hehe]

I think a card system, in the long run could be very profitable if Translink can strike a deal with banks.

Here in CA we already have Interact. It's a supposed non-profit organization that's generating huge amount of revenue.

If we could turn Van's transportation card implemented within our bank cards, I think it's a winner. Very minimal adaptation cost as many of big commercial stores already have Visa wave thing and cards with RFID chip in them. Little complain from people as they don't need to buy cards and add more stuff in their wallet. They can simply buy their monthly pass at home using online banking.

And I think translink pass should be integrated into bank cards and not the other way around as HK is doing (using octopus card at 7-11 for example)

[Alby]

Originally Posted by canucksfan

Not sure if this will actually work. Would require a ton of modification to the sky train stations if they went with the Octopus card. And would require a lot more supervision to ensure people to jump the gates. In the end it probably won't even be worth it.

Not sure if this is inside info in regards to where i work, but i've been told that canada line stations are built with turnstiles in mind, so not much modification is needed there, but however the expo/millenium line will indeed need some renovations to fit them in. Not to mention, if this system does go through, you will also have to think about the buses, and those will cost a lot to modify to get the system working in it.