//Greenlink Transitioning Paper Punch Passes to Electronic Ticketing July 1
city of greenville

Greenlink Transitioning Paper Punch Passes to Electronic Ticketing July 1

Beginning July 1, Greenlink will no longer sell 20-ride paper punch passes and will instead transition all trip-based products to electronic ticketing. Customers will be able to purchase the 20-ride pass electronically through TouchPass, Greenlink’s electronic ticketing system, which allows customers to pay their bus fare using a reloadable smart card or a smartphone app. Credit and debit cards are not required to use TouchPass; customers can use cash to load the passes to their account at the Greenlink Transit Center.

According to James Keel, Greenlink’s director of public transportation, the paper punch passes are cumbersome and inefficient, and electronic ticketing provides a contactless form of fare payment. “Greenlink’s response to COVID-19 included efforts to minimize contact between Greenlink customers and bus drivers. Issuing tickets and transfers, handling money and hole-punching the paper passes all bring customers into close contact with our drivers. TouchPass allows a touch-free form of payment, which is cleaner and safer for everyone,” said Keel. “Additionally, because there is no record of how many punches a customer has used, if they lose the paper punch pass, Greenlink is unable to reimburse their purchase. A benefit of the TouchPass system is that customers who lose their TouchPass card can freeze their accounts and then transfer their account balances to a new card.”

Another benefit of TouchPass is that customers can qualify for fare capping, which rewards frequent use of the system and limits the amount an individual spends on transit during the designated period. Under the fare capping policy, $50 is the maximum amount TouchPass customers pay within the transit month (lower caps are available for those who qualify for a discounted fare). Customers can load funds incrementally throughout the transit month, and once they spend $50, any trips made during the remainder of the month are free. The fare capping tool is a feature of the TouchPass system, and therefore cannot be utilized for cash fare payments.

Greenlink customers can download the TouchPass app by searching for “TouchPass Transit” in the iOS or Android app stores. Balances can be loaded onto customer accounts by visiting www.TouchPass.com and paid with credit or debit cards, or by visiting the dispatch booth and purchasing fares using cash, credit or debit cards. Customers can also enable an auto-load feature to replenish their account whenever it drops below a certain balance.

To ease the transition to TouchPass, from July 1 to December