BC Transit to begin testing tap payments aboard Victoria buses

An Umo fare machine is pictured. (BC Transit)

BC Transit's long-awaited tap payment option on buses in the Victoria Regional Transit System will soon arrive.

Over the coming weeks, BC Transit says its new Umo (pronounced You-Mo) electronic fare collection machines will be installed on buses.

The machines will be part of a pilot project before the full tap payment system opens to the public sometime later spring, according to BC Transit.

The new tap payment method will roll out in two phases. The first phase will allow users to pay with the Umo mobile app or reloadable Umo cards, while the second phase will let riders pay with credit cards, debit cards and mobile wallets.

When Umo launches in the spring, BC Transit says it will also update some of its fare systems.

There will be a new "30-day pass" and a "cash balance" pass.

"The 30-day pass will eventually replace the existing monthly pass and provides the same convenience of having an unlimited long-term fare product but introduces the added flexibility of not having to wait until the start of a calendar month to utilize transit services," said BC Transit in a release Monday.

Meanwhile, the cash balance system will let riders pre-load money onto their Umo account, which will be drawn every time they board a bus.

The 30-day passes and cash balance passes can be purchased online through an Umo webpage, at retailers and on the Umo app.

BC Transit notes the DayPASS fare will also be updated when Umo launches later this year.

"Riders who select the Umo app or reloadable Umo card will have their fare capped and automatically converted to a DayPASS after their second tap or scan," said BC Transit.

"This means regardless of a rider’s chosen Umo product, in transit systems that offer a DayPASS, a rider will never pay more than two times the value of a cash fare for unlimited daily travel."

Cash will still be accepted aboard all buses in the Victoria Regional Transit System.

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BC Transit initially planned to have Umo up and running in Victoria in 2022 as a pilot program for the rest of the province.

However, in September BC Transit announced that the tap system would be delayed to some time in 2023.

After the program rolls out in Victoria, BC Transit plans to launch Umo in other communities in the province. While no timeline has been announced yet, Umo will arrive in these communities in the following order:

• Victoria Regional Transit System
• Cowichan Valley Regional
• Regional District of Nanaimo
• Comox Valley Regional
• Campbell River
• Port Alberni Regional
• Powell River
• Sunshine Coast
• Squamish
• Whistler
• Pemberton
• Central Frazer Valley, Chilliwack
• Agassiz-Harrison
• Hope Regional
• Kamloops
• Vernon Regional
• Kelowna Regional
• South Okanagan
• West Kootenay
• Cranbrook
• Prince George
• Quesnel
• Fort St. John
• Dawson Creek
• Kitimat
• Terrace Regional
• Skeena Regional
• Prince Rupert
• Port Edward

In 2022, BC Transit said Umo cost $23.2 million to implement, with the federal government funding 50 per cent of the cost, the provincial government covering 40 per cent, and local governments contributing 10 per cent.