On Monday, Dec. 3, TransLink made the first wearable payment option available to Lower Mainland riders, the Compass Wristband.
On Thursday, Nov. 29, the transit authority announced that they were offering 1,000 blue adult wristbands and 1,000 orange concession wristbands in order to gauge public interest in the product.
Today, long lines for the wristbands formed before they were made available to public. There was a limit of four per person, and they were completely sold out by 9:30 am.
Compass Wristbands are selling quickly and won't last long. There is a limit of 4 per person and we will let you know when they're gone! ^CK pic.twitter.com/iEC4fooVCa
— TransLink BC (@TransLink) December 3, 2018
Vancouver Is Awesome spoke to Jill Drews, Senior Issues Management Advisor, TransLink, who explained that another batch of the wristbands had already been ordered.
"Obviously there is a very strong interest in the wristbands, and therefore we placed an order for them right away. We hope that they'll arrive in February next year," she said.
"With that being said, they are shipped from Germany, so we can't be exactly sure that they'll arrive in February."
When asked if they will stick with the orange and blue colours, she confirmed that they would.
Compass Wristbands have sold out. We are ordering more stock which is expected to arrive in February and will announce when they will be made available to the public. ^CK
— TransLink BC (@TransLink) December 3, 2018
TransLink also introduced a Tap-to-Pay system earlier this year, which allows riders to tap their Visa, Mastercard or mobile wallet at the fare gates or on buses rather than loading a Compass Card.