NEWS RELEASE
CITY OF GUELPH
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Guelph Transit customers can now buy rides, load e-cash, and pay to ride the bus using the new OnYourWay app.
The mobile app is a digital version of the OnYourWay fare card and is free to download from the App Store or Google Play.
“The app makes it easy, fast and secure to buy transit fare media, and is one more contactless payment method we are offering customers to pay to ride the bus, especially during the pandemic,” says Dawn Johnson, Electronic Fare Management System specialist at Guelph Transit.
She adds, “Modernizing our fare media payment options with an app contributes to the City’s commitment to improve how we deliver services using technology.”
The app is good for buying rides (adult, youth, senior or post-secondary categories) and loading e-cash. A monthly bus pass option will be added at a later date. For now, transit customers who normally buy a monthly bus pass will continue to use the OnYourWay fare card that was introduced in January 2020.
“We expect the app to appeal to transit customers who already make purchases using their smartphone,” says Johnson.
After downloading the app and creating an account, a credit card or Debit Mastercard/Visa Debit is needed to buy rides or load e-cash on the app. Youth, senior, and post-secondary customers must email [email protected] and provide supporting eligibility documentation before using the app to finalize the setup of a discount fare account.
The OnYourWay app generates a digital account number that is different than the physical OnYourWay fare card. Both accounts cannot be linked with each other and transit customers are encouraged to use only one account type to pay to ride the bus.
For customers with stored rides or e-cash on an OnYourWay fare card and who would like to use the app, can have their fare balance transferred by emailing [email protected] or calling 519-822-1811. Once the transfer is done, the physical fare card is cancelled and can no longer be used.
Using the app to pay to ride the bus
Before boarding the bus, customers will open the app on their smartphone to generate a QR code. It’s now ready to scan on the farebox. The QR code appears for 20 seconds before it expires. If it disappears before being scanned, customers can generate another QR code. No fare is deducted from the account until the QR code has been scanned.
The app automatically stores a bus transfer to be used within 60 minutes. When transferring buses, customers will generate a QR code to show the transfer and then scan the QR code on the farebox.
The app works the same way as the OnYourWay fare card and displays identical messages on the farebox screen.
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