New GRT fare boxes expected for January 2017

Grand River Transit is adding the finishing touches to the new fare boxes, which will gradually replace the existing ones starting January 2017.

Originally, GRTaimed for the new fare boxes to be installed in the summer, but ran into a few obstacles just before they launched, resulting in a six-month delay.

"We had set up a testing lab and used some of our staff to simulate customer experience and we noticed a couple of things that the fare box wasn't doing the way we wanted it to," Gethyn Beniston, project manager for transit services at GRT, told CBC KW'sThe Morning Edition host Craig Norris on Wednesday.

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Those testing the new fare boxes felt like the transaction process was too slow and occasionally it would print transfers at the wrong time.

But overall, Beniston said that people had a positive experience using the fare boxes.

"People were generally happy with it, they felt it was a good experience," Beniston said.

GRT is in the process of introducing theEasyGoFareCardfor fare payment on GRT and LRT transit, and needed to upgrade the existingfareboxesto accommodate the card, which will eventually get rid of paper tickets.

What to expect for 2017

Starting January, GRT buses will gradually transition to the new fare boxes whiletemporarilyusing the current system of using monthly passesand paper tickets, until all buses have the new fare boxes installed.

"Once we've got the fare box installation done, we will start working on distributing the fare card and setting up the infrastructure to allow customers to reload it," Beniston said.

By late summer, GRT will begin to installing the fare equipment on LRT trains.