Construction of SkyTrain fare gates was completed in May 2014, but they remained open until April 2016 owing to multiple system problems. While open for the nearly two-year period, holders of paper-based monthly passes, bus-issued transfers, and FareSaver tickets continued to pass through the gates into the stations' fare-paid zones unimpeded, although they were subject to having their fare inspected by transit security or transit police once inside the fare-paid zone. Starting in April 2016, they were initially fully closed only during peak hours, with one gate remaining open during off-peak times for people with accessibility issues who could not reach their Compass Cards to the fare gates to tap in or out. Full implementation of the fare gates was also delayed by problems with Compass Cards when riders were tapping out as they exited buses. The tapping-out process on buses was too slow and did not always record the tap which—because the system initially deducted a three-zone fare until a tap-out was recorded and a refund was issued to those having only travelled one or two zones—often resulted in customers being charged for travelling through three zones when in fact they had only travelled through one or two. This was a serious setback for TransLink as the entire system was supposed to be operational by 2013. A solution was finally implemented where the requirement to tap out of buses was removed and all bus travel was considered as within a single zone, creating significant savings for those travelling multiple zones using buses only and in some cases changing transit usage patterns. The last fare gates left open for users with accessibility issues were closed on July 25, 2016, and the system has been in full operation since.
construction of skytrain fare gates was completed in may 2014 but they remained open until april 2016 owing to multiple system problems while open for the nearly two-year period holders of paper-based monthly passes bus-issued transfers and faresaver tickets continued to pass through the gates into the stations' fare-paid zones unimpeded although they were subject to having their fare inspected by transit security or transit police once inside the fare-paid zone starting in april 2016 they were initially fully closed only during peak hours with one gate remaining open during off-peak times for people with accessibility issues who could not reach their compass cards to the fare gates to tap in or out full implementation of the fare gates was also delayed by problems with compass cards when riders were tapping out as they exited buses the tapping-out process on buses was too slow and did not always record the tap which—because the system initially deducted a three-zone fare until a tap-out was recorded and a refund was issued to those having only travelled one or two zones—often resulted in customers being charged for travelling through three zones when in fact they had only travelled through one or two this was a serious setback for translink as the entire system was supposed to be operational by 2013 a solution was finally implemented where the requirement to tap out of buses was removed and all bus travel was considered as within a single zone creating significant savings for those travelling multiple zones using buses only and in some cases changing transit usage patterns the last fare gates left open for users with accessibility issues were closed on july 25 2016 and the system has been in full operation since