STS expands smart-card service

Sherbrooke‘s public transit corporation, the STS, is upping the ante with its smart card, la Vermeilleuse, which it launched in a limited way in September. Between now and June 30, the card will become available in each of the city’s boroughs one at a time.

In order to maximize the efficiency of this approach, the STS has added two temporary points of service, one at the Carrefour de L’estrie mall and one Downtown, to its three permanent sites. At these sites, customers can go and get the smart card that offers three monthly passes (regular, reduced and family) as well as an electronic wallet that allows customers to charge anywhere between a minimum of $10 and a maximum of $50 to pay fares.

The implementation of La Vermeilleuse is more than a simple replacement for monthly card holders. It also involves people who want to use the system by paying cash or borrowing it sporadically without having to worry about having the exact change.

STS President Marc Denault points out that the card is a smart, personalized and secure medium that can collect information to simplify and secure the perception of rates, to measure and analyze the use of routes as well as to optimize the planning and operation of the network.

"The deployment of the Vermeilleuse card is part of the STS approach to ticketing aimed in particular at increasing efficiency and improving the customer experience," he said.

"The traditional public transit offering has focused primarily on fares, schedules, and traveling back and forth,” Denault added. “The Vermeille brand is keeping its promise with this new step forward, making smart mobility a reality for Sherbrooke residents. They now have access to an increasingly wide range of mobility tools to choose means of travel that work best for them, when they want and where they want to go."