CTrain riders will need to start taking an extra step this week to ensure they have properly paid for their train ride.
Calgary Transit is launching its new mobile ticket validation system on Wednesday which will require anyone boarding a train who bought tickets using the My Fare app to validate their ticket at a station platform.
The change comes after the city determined the new validation machines were need to help prevent fare evasion and increase the proper use of e-tickets.
The My Fare app is being updated so that riders will be required to activate their ticket on the app, and then validate it at a platform, or on a bus. Previously, riders were only required to activate their electronic ticket on the app.
Once a ticket is purchased on the app, riders can approach a yellow validation box on the train platfor to scan the ticket. A green light means they are good to go, a red light means there is an issue with the proof of fare.
Day passes or monthly passes will also need to be activated on the app and then scanned at a platform validator, but only on the first trip the pass is used for.
Anyone caught not validating a fare could face a $250 fine, but city officials say they will go easy on enforcement in the early days of the new system.
“We will be leading with an educational component and once we understand that the public is understanding how to use the system, we will be going forward with an enforcement program,” says Marcia Gonder, the city’s chief of public vehicle standards.
The changes come into effect Wednesday morning.
With files from Phoenix Phillips