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Sunday, August 18, 2013
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Compass plan will penalize bus riders Bus transfers won’t work on SeaBus, SkyTrain once fare card is introduced Jeremy Shepherd jshepherd@nsnews.com
ANGRY bus riders and privacy advocates want to put the brakes on a new TransLink program that would leave some users paying two fares where they used to pay one. The Compass card, scheduled to be released later this year, would allow transit users to tap their way past the new SkyTrain and SeaBus fare gates throughout Metro Vancouver. However, those new gates will not recognize bus tickets, potentially leaving two million bus riders paying a second fare when they jump on the SkyTrain next year. “I think it’s unfair because, by TransLink’s own admission, at least 6,000 people every single day will be forced to pay twice,” said transit user Glyn Lewis. Lewis marked his displeasure by spearheading an online petition that characterizes the system as absurd. After two days, 3,567 disgruntled riders had added their John Hancock to the petition at change.org. The initiative is intended to put pressure on TransLink, partially on behalf of riders who don’t have much money. “It’s going to make transit less accessible, especially for lower-income earners,” Lewis said. Putting new fare boxes on each bus to complement the Compass system would cost $25 million, according to TransLink. However, there should be some method to trade your bus ticket for a rail pass at SkyTrain and SeaBus stations, argued Lewis. “I can’t imagine that’s going to cost $25 million,” Lewis said. “We looked at that as well, too, and that had a cost of about $9 million,” explained TransLink spokesman Derek Zabel. Most riders don’t want TransLink to spend money on a new system for redeeming bus tickets, Zabel said, explaining the corporation had worked with numerous focus groups to reach that conclusion. “We’re trying to be as fiscally responsible as possible and our customers told us they preferred that we didn’t spend that type of money on replacing fare boxes,” he said. “Instead, focus on rider education.” No personal information will be encoded on the card, according to TransLink, who stated the Compass card would contain only a unique number and the current monetary value loaded on the card by its user. But that may soon change, according to Vincent Gogolek, executive director of the B.C. Freedom of Information and Privacy Association. There is an effort afoot to link the Compass cards with the province’s ID cards, Gogolek said, describing the transit pass as “convenient and creepy.” A Ministry of Transportation report states the ID cards “could replace or augment bus passes.” The report also describes the critical struggle for many businesses to access reliable identity information. “They’re saying, ‘Oh, we had a few conversations with them about this.’ Well here it is in the Ministry of Transportation’s plans done presumably in 2011,” Gogolek See Compass page 5
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NEWS photo Cindy Goodman
ANNA MacDonald, 13, listens to instructions for the next pose in aerial silks during a morning summer camp on Tuesday run by Vancouver Circus School at Memorial Gym in North Vancouver.
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