BC Transit is committed to continuously enhancing your experience as a rider. As part of this endeavour, we are moving forward with the installation and development of technology initiatives to improve efficiency, increase security and put you in control of your BC Transit experience.
Funding for this project is coming from the Public Transit Infrastructure Fund (PTIF), which was announced in June 2016 by the federal and provincial governments.
Umo
BC Transit’s project to implement the innovative Umo (pronounced “you-mo”) platform across the province is currently underway! This transformational project will introduce payment methods that will improve your transit experience. The mobile app and reloadable card are ready to use, and soon, you will be able to pay your fare with a credit card and debit card, providing you with the ability to pick the best fare product for your lifestyle and travel habits.
New payment methods will increase your access to transit by allowing you to use items you carry every day, removing barriers like pre-purchasing tickets and passes, or carrying exact change.
Learn more about Umo on the Umo page.
NextRide Real Time Information
NextRide is BC Transit’s technology service where riders can use smart mobile devices and desktop services to see the real-time location of their bus along its route and its predicted arrival time at an identified stop, as well as calling out stops on bus both visually and audibly.
Customers wanting to plan their trip are encouraged to use trip planning apps including the Transit App (mobile only), Google Maps, their own favourite trip planning app or refer to the rider’s guide. BC Transit’s website helps guide you to some of these tools.
BC Transit now offers riders free subscriptions to Transit Royale within the Transit App, which provides a wider geographical range for real-time bus tracking, a view of the full transit schedule instead of just short-term departures and fun, interactive features to make the transit journey more enjoyable. We think you’ll love these features!
NextRide technology also helps BC Transit and its partners to better direct buses for schedule reliability, manage on-road incidents more effectively and to push out alerts more readily to customers in the case of detours, accidents or other events that may delay regular routing.
NextRide technology is available in 42 transit systems. Work is underway to introduce NextRide to all our transit systems throughout the province in 2024.
More information about NextRide can be found here.
APC – Automatic Passenger Counting
BC Transit has refit 283 conventional route buses in 13 communities with Automatic Passenger Counters (APC). Data gathered from the APCs allows BC Transit and its partners to assess ridership demands throughout the province, making it possible to better plan our routes and to adjust service hours from low demand routes to higher demand areas.
The communities selected for this retrofit project were Victoria, Abbotsford, Chilliwack, Comox Valley, Cowichan Valley, Kamloops, Kelowna, Nelson, Penticton, Vernon, Prince George, Sunshine Coast and Whistler. Installation was completed in December 2018.
All new buses will have the APC units factory installed by the bus manufacturer prior to delivery.
Closed Circuit Television (CCTV) Cameras
BC Transit has installed closed circuit television (CCTV) cameras on buses across the province. The CCTV cameras help deter inappropriate behavior on buses and provide another tool for investigation if an incident occurs.
Video and audio recording equipment was installed on 376 conventional buses (27 feet and longer) in the current fleet, acquired in 2006 and later. All new medium-duty and heavy-duty conventional buses will have the equipment ready-installed upon delivery.
The installation of the CCTV cameras followed a proof-of-concept period in Victoria and Kamloops in 2015-16. The proof-of-concept showed that the cameras provide a positive benefit to enhance security and safety including evidence to ensure successful conclusions for security investigations.
See the CCTV FAQ page for more information about the CCTV expansion project:
Information is collected under authority of the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act.
If you have questions about the collection of this information, contact BC Transit:
1-844-482-6161
transitinfo@bctransit.com
NextRide is a BC Transit initiative to implement Automatic Vehicle Location (AVL) technology on buses.
BC Transit will install video and audio recording equipment, known as closed circuit television (CCTV) cameras, on 376 conventional buses (27 feet and longer) in the existing fleet, acquired in 2006 and later.