Tuesday marked the first day that ION passengers had to pay to ride the LRT, and it wasn’t without its hiccups.
The region offered 11 days of free rides following the official launch last month, but now the free ride is over.
Both the region and Grand River Transit expected some issues with the rollout of the payment program and there were a few problems: some technical and some as a result of user error.
“I was a little confused by what thing I was supposed to press on the screen,” admits rider Sarah Winegarden. She says she had forgotten that she would have to pay after the free stretch.
Some other passengers say the payment stations were malfunctioning, which meant they got on one last time free of charge.
GRT officials say they’re out at the platforms working through the issues.
“A few technical issues at the ticket vending machines and also some unfamiliarity with the machines themselves and customers not quite getting them yet, so it’s part of the learning curve,” explains Peter Zink, director of transit services. “But overall it went really well.”
Zink says there will be a short grace period where riders will be issued warnings instead of the $240 fine for not paying their fares in case some people forget at the start.
For payments, there are a few options riders can use. A 90-minute trip will cost you $3.25, which you can pay on the platform or by a reloadable Easy-GO card.
Grand River Transit says they expect to work the kinks out of the payment system in the next few days.
