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TransLink chooses name for new contactless smart card
7 Apr 2011

TransLink, the Canadian public transport service, has chosen a name for its new contactless smart card.

The product will be known as Compass and it is set to be introduced in 2013.

A naming competition was held to choose a moniker for the device and 72 people submitted Compass.

It will replace the current cards and tickets that are used on buses, SkyTrain, SeaBus and West Coast Express, allowing passengers to load up the plastic special machines or via the internet.

They then swipe these when they board buses or pass through faregates at the start of their journey.

Michael Madill, TransLink vice-president of enterprise initiatives, said: "The Compass card will give our customers more convenient fare payment options and improved fare security, by allowing online card registration."

The solution has been designed by Cubic Transportation System - the same company that created the Oyster contactless smart cards used in London - and the provincial government will contribute $40 million (£25 million) to the cost of the scheme, the Vancouver Sun reports.