WATERLOO REGION — Grand River Transit is edging closer to using electronic fare cards and phasing out paper tickets in 2017.

But a final solution to accommodate the region's poor hasn't quite been settled.

Eric Gillespie, director of transit services, said a decision will be finalized in coming weeks as to how single paper tickets will be replaced.

"There are some ideas," he said.

Many local social agencies buy strips of bus tickets and give them to clients as single rides. The region also pays for bus tickets under the discretionary benefits program.

Single tickets won't be offered with the new system because each electronic card costs 60 cents to make.

The starting point for a solution is a card with two rides. The region would pass the 60 cent production cost on to social agencies.

"We'll come up with other options but that's our starting point is looking at this two-ride ticket," Gillespie said.

Full implementation of the electronic fare management system is expected in late summer 2017. Some fare boxes will be tested in early January to work out any kinks.

There are some advantages to the electronic fare system — more accurate ridership counts, better tracking of the U-Pass system for university students and operational savings.

With the EasyGO card passengers can transfer between any regional transit service including buses, light rail, MobilityPlus or BusPlus.

The fare is the same for all four services.

That message has been difficult to get across, Gillespie said, with many believing the light rail fare will be more expensive.

"All of those family of services are all transit-related," he said. "Customers can access (them) with one fare and have access to a 90-minute transfer to use the service."

There will be about a six-month window to complete the conversion from tickets to cards and install the new technology on buses.

What passengers should know:

• Bills will no longer be accepted for fares on the bus at full implementation. More bill-to-coin machines are expected to be installed for passengers.

• The same fare system will be in place when light rail starts up, which is planned for 2018. Fares won't be accepted on light rail vehicles. Instead, there will be ticket validators at light rail platforms.

• Current photo identification pass programs such as the Transportation Affordability Pass Program are expected to transition to the smart card system without issue.

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• There will also be an unlimited ride pass that can be shared, for example, among family members.

• If a card runs out of cash there will be an "overdraft" capability to provide another ride until the cardholder can top up.

• Passengers will need to pay separately for GO Transit