Halifax Transit bus makes a stop on Spring Garden Road. (Photo: Steve MacArthur)

If you do not like digging for change to ride the bus, Halifax is pushing forward with a mobile payment and scanning option for transit riders.

The city is looking to launch an app and install mobile scanners on buses and ferries which will cost more than $1.3 million to get up and running.

Council gave the contract to Masabi in July, with their Justride platform for mobile payment.

Masabi is a London based tech company that develops and markets fare collection services for public transport companies.

They offer apps, smart cards and other fare media for electronic tickets and fare collection, allowing users to buy tickets by app, on the web, at kiosks, and retail locations, and allowing tickets to be read by an electronic reader or scanned by mobile phone.

The company’s customers include transit in Calgary, Boston, London, Las Vegas and New York.

Halifax city staff looked at other transit agencies across Canada, the US, and Europe to identify trends in mobile payment options. In addition, an online survey targeted Halifax residents and asked riders about the most desirable options.

These were the most popular options among transit users:

Day Pass
Two Day Pass
Weekly Pass
20 Ride Pass

These options would provide unlimited transit use while your pass is active, but they would only be offered through the mobile app. Cash and physical tickets will still be accepted.

The city is also exploring a new pay structure within the app.

The timeline for when the app and scanners will be implemented is not yet clear.