GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) — Payment options are changing for The Rapid bus service’s Silver Line.
Starting Tuesday, instead of getting a ticket from a vending machines, Silver Line buses will use new Wave bus fare card readers or riders can pay with exact change — the options already used by the rest of the Rapid lines.
The metro Grand Rapids bus service promises the change “improves customer experience, avoids expensive equipment replacements, and aligns with how people pay fares on other buses in the system,” it said in a Monday release.
“…The ticket vending machines are reaching their end of life and don’t facilitate some of the Wave card transactions that we’d like, so we’re also looking forward to … increasing payment options for open payments and also avoiding expensive equipment costs, because it’s a lot more affordable for us to put them on the bus,” Rapid spokesperson Amanda Moore told News 8 Monday.
Rides are $1.75 for adults. A monthly Wave card costs $47 and will give you unlimited rides, including fare capping and free transfers.
The Rapid is also preparing to start accepting “open payment options” in the spring.
“Apple Pay, Google Pay and those contactless credit card options,” Moore explained open payment. “For new customers, that’s a game changer because we often find that paying in that exact cash and otherwise can be a barrier.”
The Silver Line Bus Rapid Transit service was designed to quicky move people up Division Avenue and to the Medical Mile and downtown Grand Rapids, easing traffic and parking congestion around Grand Rapids’ hospitals and Grand Rapids Community College. It started running in 2014.