TriMet riders will no longer be able to buy paper tickets at large grocery stores in the Portland area in early October.

The transit agency said by fall all of its remaining retail locations selling paper tickets will stop and move to the Hop Fastpass system.

TriMet will continue to accept cash and paper tickets on buses "for now," it said in a news release, but it added "Hop is the better way to pay." The TriMet office in Pioneer Courthouse Square will allow people to transfer unused paper tickets to their Hop cards for face value.

The agency rolled out Hop, the electronic fare system, in 2017. Riders can use the electronic cards on all TriMet and C-Tran buses, the Portland Streetcar, MAX light rail and WES commuter rail. Users tap the card on the Hop readers on MAX platforms or at the front of buses.

Riders earn daily and monthly passes the more they ride when using a Hop pass. Fares are capped, so a rider will earn a daily pass after tapping twice. Hop users can also replace a lost card or transfer the balance to a new card, unlike a paper pass.

Fred Meyer, QFC and WinCo are the latest grocery stores to stop selling paper tickets. Those giant retailers will stop selling paper tickets in early October, TriMet said Wednesday.

Albertsons and Safeway transitioned to the Hop passes this month and stopped selling paper tickets this week.

TriMet will still sell paper passes at its ticket kiosks for the next several months, but it will eventually migrate to a Hop-based paper ticket system, where users will be able to buy a disposable Hop pass to ride a train or bus.

The reusable Hop passes cost $3 and are available at grocery stores and other retail locations.

Users can add money online at myhopcard.com, by calling 1-844-MYHOPCARD or at transit ticket offices.

TriMet said Hop users may also add cash to their accounts in person at any of the nearly 500 convenience stores and retail locations in the tri-county area.

-- Andrew Theen

atheen@oregonian.com

503-294-4026

@andrewtheen