What is a Breeze Card?
The Breeze Card is an electronic card that you use to pay your fare when riding Lethbridge Transit. It looks like a credit or debit card, and it contains a microchip that carries all of your passes, pre-paid rides and even e-cash. The card can be loaded and reloaded over and over.
When you board a bus, you simply tap your Breeze Card onto the target on the farebox. The farebox automatically reads the information on the microchip inside your card, and the proper fare is instantly deducted. You hear a beep, and the screen on the farebox tells you the date of pass expiration, the number of rides remaining or your e-cash balance.
Why should I get a Breeze Card?
Your Breeze Card is “smart”
- You always have exact change and you always pay the ‘best fare’
- If you lose your registered Breeze Card, you don’t lose the value on your card
Your Breeze Card can be personalized
- You can configure your Breeze Card so the farebox messages you see are provided in your choice of 16 languages
- You can arrange to have the messages displayed a little longer or the sounds a little louder to accommodate your own special needs
Your Breeze Card can be managed remotely
- You can purchase passes or pre-paid rides, load e-cash and check the balance on your card by telephone or, in the Spring of 2012, online – there is no need to go in person to a ticket agent
Are there different kinds of Breeze Cards?
There are 2 different kinds of Breeze Cards:
- Reloadable Breeze Cards can have period passes, pre-paid rides and/or e-cash loaded and reloaded onto them, over and over again.
- Non-reloadable Breeze Cards can carry a few rides or a short-term pass when they are sold. You discard them once the rides are used or the pass expires.
Reloadable Breeze Cards come in five different passenger classifications: Adult, Youth, Senior, Post-Secondary and ACCESS-A-Ride.
How much do they cost?
From November 1, 2011 to January 31, 2012, Breeze Cards will be free. After that time, they will cost $5. You are required to load a minimum of $10 value on the card (towards a pass, pre-paid rides, or as e-cash) the first time. After that, you can load any value you want, whenever you want, wherever you want.
Where can I purchase my Breeze Card and put value on it?
At your regular ticket and pass outlet:
- City Hall 910 – 4th Avenue South
- Lethbridge Transit 619 – 4th Avenue North
- Lethbridge Senior Citizens Organization 500 – 11th Street South
- Club Cigar Store 301 – 4th Avenue South
- Paramount Smoke Shop 713 – 4th Avenue South
- Draffins Pharmasave 319 – 5th Street South
- Stubbs Pharmacy 1509 – 9th Avenue South
- Lethbridge Vehicle Licensing & Registry College Centre
- Lethbridge College Student Association Office
- Stafford Pharmacy 1475 St. Edward Boulevard North
- Nord-Bridge Seniors Centre 1904 – 13th Avenue North
- University of Lethbridge Student Union Service Centre
- Prescription Centre West 30 Jerry Potts Boulevard West
By phone: Transit Office 403-320-3885
Online (Spring 2012): www.lethbridge.ca/transit
How does the Breeze Card work on ACCESS-A-Ride?
Just like conventional transit, with a couple of differences. Your Breeze Card is validated by a portable handheld card reader that the driver can bring to you or your door. ACCESS-A-Ride Breeze Cards can be loaded and reloaded with e-cash and e-tokens. Once you have your Breeze Card, you can reload it at a sales outlet, by telephone, or in the Spring of 2012, online.
Can I still use cash to pay my fare?
Yes – but with a couple of changes. The new fareboxes on conventional transit no longer accept paper bills, but they will accept Canadian or US coins. Just like today, drivers are not able to make change and the farebox does not provide change, so you need to have the exact fare. If they wish, ACCESS-A-Ride passengers can continue to pay for their fares with cash in coins and bills.
What if I need to transfer to another bus?
The date and time of your fare payment is automatically encoded on your Breeze Card. If you board a second bus within an hour of paying for your original trip, the system will identify that second trip as a transfer and will not deduct an additional fare.
When you pay with cash, you must ask the driver for a paper transfer that is issued by the farebox. The validity period of the transfer is printed on the transfer and is encoded in a bar code that is automatically read by the farebox when you board the connecting bus. When paying for more than one fare with a Breeze Card, the additional riders must ask for paper transfers.
When can I start to use my Breeze Card?
Breeze Cards can be purchased from a Retail Sales Agent or at the Transit Office starting November 1, 2011. You will be able to start using your Breeze Card on December 1, 2011.
Starting November 15, 2011, the value of any tickets in your possession can be transferred onto your Breeze Card. Paper tickets will no longer be sold as of November 30, 2011, so after that date, all pre-paid fares must be loaded onto Breeze Cards.
The November 2011 monthly pass will be the last monthly pass produced on paper. The December 2011 monthly pass will be loaded onto your Breeze Card.
For a two-month grace period, passengers can continue to pay their fare with the older paper tickets, but paper tickets will not be accepted after January 31, 2012.
What about any unused tickets or tokens I have after February 1, 2012?
Any unused paper tickets after February 1, 2012 can be returned to the Transit Office and the value of the tickets can be transferred to your Breeze Card.
What happens if my Breeze Card gets damaged?
You can swap a damaged Breeze Card for a replacement one without charge at the Transit Office.
What happens if I lose my Breeze Card?
You can get a new Breeze Card, but you have to pay a $5 replacement fee, as well as load $10 minimum value on the card. If you registered your original Breeze Card, you can transfer the balance to a new card. Your lost Breeze Card becomes unusable.
What is card registration and why should I do it?
It is optional to register your Breeze Card, but it is highly recommended, as you will receive great benefits such as lost card value protection, language option, and accessibility options.
Registering your Breeze Card involves providing Lethbridge Transit with your name, address and contact information, such as telephone number and email address. This information is then confidentially linked to the Breeze Card serial number. Don’t worry, your contact information is never loaded onto your Breeze Card.
It’s also a snap to file for your Transit Pass Income Tax Credit when you register your Breeze Card, since a record of your monthly pass purchases during the year is readily available to you.
Registration of anonymous Breeze Cards can be done by telephone, by mail, online or in person at City Hall or the Transit Office.
Breeze Card Registration Form
Information Brochure
For more information on the new Breeze Card, please check our our
brochure!
Electronic Fare Card Naming Contest winner!
Lethbridge Transit decided to open the naming of the new Electronic Fare Card up to the public and the riders. People had the opportunity from June 29th to July 29 to enter a contest and tell Transit what the new card should be called. Over 450 entries were recieved! A team of people at Transit went through all those entries and narrowed it down to 3 favourites. A focus group was then held with a collection of transit riders and a consenses was reached.
On September 1st, the new card was unveiled and the winner, James Forbes, was given his prizes - a one year transit pass and an iPad2 donated by Pattison Outdoor Advertising. James suggested that we name the card “The Breeze”. On James’ contest entry, he stated “A notable feature of day-to-day life in Lethbridge has to be the wind. That’s the first reason why the name Breeze is so appropriate for a Lethbridge Transit card. But the convenience of an electronic card, as well as the efficiency of the transit system, will make it “a breeze” to use.” James, we couldn’t agree more!
Thanks to everyone who entered our contest and congrats to James for being the lucky winner
What is an Electronic Fare Card?
An Electronic Fare Card is a smartcard (much like a Tim’s card) that will allow you to load and reload a pass, tickets or e-cash on the card for use on Lethbridge Transit and ACCESS-A-Ride. The card is equipped with a microchip that stores your balance information and interacts with the farebox on the bus to deduct your fare. This new technology will get rid of paper passes, tickets and tokens.
There are many customer benefits to this system:
- The card is reloadable and can be automatically reloaded when your fare is low;
- The passes will now be 30-days and not tied to the calendar months;
- You can register your card so that if you lose it, the balance can be transferred to a new card;
- You can have more than one type of fare on a single card (i.e., a 30-day pass and e-cash for your companion);
- The display on the farebox that shows your balance can be customized to display in different languages if English is not your first language;
- The farebox can be customized to display the balance of your card and validate your fare based on your accessibility needs;
The benefits to Lethbridge Transit are:
- More accurate ridership data to be used in planning a better system;
- Better cash management and security.