Halifax Transit fare-paying app rolling out in 2023

The mobile app that will allow Halifax Transit riders to pay for a bus or ferry ride with their phone won't roll out until 2023.

There was some talk about the app potentially being ready in December, but a spokesperson for the Halifax Regional Municipality told CBC News in an email the contract with the U.K. company Masabi is still being finalized.

The municipality estimates the app could be available eight weeks after a contract is signed.

Halifax regional council originally approved the plan to move to a mobile app in July 2020, with a goal of going cashless by 2025.

In July, council voted to award Masabi the job of delivering the service to buses and ferries.

Masabi's app works by displaying a ticket on the screen to show the driver. It would be similar to using a paper bus transfer.

Eventually, the buses and ferries will have scanners for the app, but that's expected to come about nine months after the app first launches.

After the scanners are installed, the next move will be to allow payment through tapping a debit or credit card on their screens.

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