Calgary Transit staff will begin testing electronic fare cards on buses and CTrain platforms Tuesday, although managers are not announcing a launch date for the long-promised Connect system.

Calgary Transit is taking a once bitten, twice shy approach to the tap-and-go fare technology. It had fully developed the Connect card program in 2012, but found serious glitches in testing and cancelled its contract with a multinational developer.

After reconsidering its options, the city gave Telvent a second chance because a new contractor may have cost an extra $11 million, on top of the original $7-million deal signed for the full Connect program in 2010.

Last time, the city promised the Connect cards would go live for the public in summer 2012. This time, there are no predicted timelines.

With card readers already installed on city buses and at CTrain stations, transit employees will begin trying out Connect cards Tuesday, and then other city workers will join in October for a roughly three-month trial, transit director Doug Morgan wrote in a memo to councillors.

“The project is on track and proceeding according to the accelerated schedule,” the memo states.

“Connect is a large system so we are investing time in testing to ensure a smooth rollout.”

About 1,000 city staff will test the system before it launches, transit spokesman Stephen Tauro said Monday. Morgan will hold a news briefing tomorrow to explain the system’s reboot efforts.

Connect will work the same way as the Orca card in Seattle, the Oyster in London, or various other cards throughout the world. Rather than use paper passes, tickets or cash, passengers can electronically purchase transit credits for the cards, and tap them against reader boxes to pay for their rides.

The fare types and costs won’t change with the arrival of Connect.

jmarkusoff@calgaryherald.com