Halifax Transit’s HFXGO app got three changes this week. You can now pay with a barcode instead of buying tickets, the app stops charging you once you’ve spent the price of a pass, and paying with a credit or debit card is coming later this year.
Halifax Transit announced the new features Tuesday. Here’s what each one does.
1. Tap & Ride: pay with a barcode
Load money into a verified HFXGO account, then use the new Tap & Ride barcode to pay when you board a bus or ferry.
The fare comes out of your balance automatically. There are no individual tickets to buy or activate before you get on.
2. Fare capping: never pay more than a pass
The app counts every trip you pay for with the Tap & Ride barcode. Once you hit the price of a pass, the rest of your rides are free.
For adults, that’s:
- $7.50 a day, the price of a daily pass
- $90 a month, the price of a monthly pass
Seniors, who identify themselves in the app, get fare capping too, and so do Regional Express riders.
Before this, getting pass pricing meant buying the pass up front. Now you pay as you go and the app stops charging once you’ve paid what a pass costs.
3. Coming later this year: tap to pay
Halifax Transit says Tap & Ride is a step toward tap to pay, which will let riders pay their fare with a contactless credit or debit card. It’s expected later this year.
The fine print
Fare capping only works if you do all three of these:
- Create and verify an HFXGO account
- Load money into it
- Pay with the Tap & Ride barcode
Tickets bought and activated one at a time in the app don’t count toward the cap.
Setup steps and answers to common questions are on Halifax Transit’s HFXGO page.
