Virtual tickets to ride can expire
App purchases can be renewed by calling 311
Some Halifax Transit users are encountering an irritating problem: expiry dates on virtual tickets.
The HFXGO app was released in November as a way for passsengers to buy electronic tickets. The app had been in the making since 2019 and had multiple delayed releases.
E-tickets expire one year after purchase. Physical tickets, however, do not.
Riders voiced concerns Wednesday, through a post on X, that their money is going to waste if tickets don’t get used before the expiry date.
Rebecca Thomas, a resident of Halifax, posted: “Hey @hfxtransit, how come my digital wallet of bus tickets expire when the paper ones never did? Essentially, it’s a gift card until redeemed. Isn’t that illegal?”
Nova Scotia’s Consumer
Protection Act says that gift cards cannot have an expiry date. It can be used to its full value no matter when you decide to use it.
Naomi Cohen saw the post and was devastated to learn this. They purchased singleride tickets in bulk in January, not realizing they might not get to use them all before they expire, as they use other methods of transportation in addition to the bus.
“I don’t want to pay for a monthly bus pass, so I purchased a bunch of singleride tickets a couple months ago, just to have when I need them,” said Cohen.
“If I had known they expire, I wouldn’t have bought as many as I did . . . . Waste of money.”
Marc Santilli, the manager of technical services for Halifax Transit, acknowledges the issue and understands the anger.
“The concerns are 100 per cent valid,” said Santilli. “It was always our intention to create the electronic tickets similarly to the physical ones.”
He said the problem is the Justride platform that the HFXGO app uses. Justride is a fare payment system that automatically expires tickets after one year.
“If and when the tickets expire, we want the buyer to be able to get what they paid for. That’s why they can call 311 when the ticket expires to get it reactivated again.”
This is a solution outlined on the Halifax Transit page on halifax.ca and also on the HFXGO app, however, it is not as clear as it could be for some users.
“We can take more steps to make the public know this,” said Santilli. “The verbiage on the website could be clearer.”
He said the communications team will begin working on a way to make riders aware of ticket expiration before purchasing.