If your OC Transpo card reader has ever flashed red for no obvious reason, you weren’t imagining things. The transit service says a string of technical problems with its fare readers cost the system somewhere between $690,000 and $960,000 in lost revenue over an 18-month stretch, according to a new report to council’s transit committee.
Where the Numbers Came From The report was requested by Alta Vista Coun. Marty Carr, who asked OC Transpo for an explanation, and a cost estimate, for what’s been going wrong with the red oval card readers at bus entrances. OC Transpo couldn’t land on a precise figure, but landed on that $690,000 to $960,000 range covering January 2025 through June 2026, a period that saw 3,188 separate reports of problematic fare readers. Most of the financial damage was concentrated in a short window. Reliability dropped to 93.5 per cent in February, March, and April of 2026, with the bulk of the lost revenue tied to that stretch.
What Went Wrong OC Transpo pointed to new software as the root of the problem, put in place while working with its contractor and Metrolinx on system upgrades. The transit service said an unprecedented number of fare devices went out of service as a result, prompting technicians to review roughly 300 fare readers and reinstall software to resolve the issue. A second, separate glitch also cropped up earlier this year, one OC Transpo described as a software bug capable of temporarily disabling readers. Tracking down the cause proved difficult, but an extended investigation eventually traced it back to repeated rapid taps of U-Pass cards, with a fix confirmed in June.
Where Things Stand Now Pat Scrimgeour, OC Transpo’s director of transit customer systems and planning, told the committee that reliability has since returned to normal, noting the affected devices have all been repaired. Some 4G connectivity issues still linger, and the transit service is working on a new procedure that would keep buses in the garage if their reader isn’t functioning, once fleet availability allows for it. OC Transpo also says it’s looking to recover the lost fare revenue tied to the software update directly from Metrolinx, so riders shouldn’t expect the cost to land on their fares.
