This new ETS Arc card bus pass sales process is currently being piloted at a few schools.  Students receive an Arc card that can then be entered into SchoolZone to be registered, and linked with the student.  Once the Arc card is registered, monthly ETS bus passes can be purchased, which will then automatically be added to the Arc card and allow the student to scan the card to ride the bus. 

Once an Arc card has been obtained by the student from the school it should be registered in SchoolZone.  The student will enter in the last 19 digits on the back of the card as well as the 3 or 4 digit security card located on the front of the card.

Students should also consider registering their new Arc card with Edmonton Transit on the myarc.ca website.  Registration is not required to use this service but will be required to transfer purchased passes to a new card if the previous card has been lost or stolen.

Adding monthly bus pass purchases is no different than before, when a student purchased a monthly paper bus pass.  The monthly bus pass will either be added to the students fee sheet or the user will have to look for additional fees supplied by the school, to add the monthly bus pass to their fee sheet.  Make sure to add the fee entitled ‘[Month] Bus Pass ETS Arc Card’ option from the fee list.  Once the bus pass has been added and paid, the the bus pass will be sent to Edmonton Transit (ETS) to be added to the Arc card.  At the time of implementation passes are being sent to ETS three times a day, 4 AM, noon, and 8 PM.  

For example, if a user purchases a monthly bus pass at 1 PM the process to add the purchased monthly pass to the Arc card will not run until 8 PM, so the Arc card cannot be used to access the bus until after this time.

The ETS Arc Information page in SchoolZone will only show the status of the Arc card in relation to the current and the next monthly bus pass.  Bus passes purchased for previous months will not show on this page.  Also, passes purchased for months beyond the next month will not display until the appropriate time.

There are two scenario's that my occur if a student loses or has their Arc card stolen.

1. Obtain a new Arc card from the school office for no cost

• The student can enter their new Arc card information within SchoolZone.

• Any monthly bus passes or other purchased product on the original Arc card will be sent to ETS to be removed and added to the newly registered Arc card at the next scheduled upload time ( 4 AM, Noon, 8 PM)

• After processing the changes the original Arc card data should be moved to the new Arc card and SchoolZone should be updated to reflect the status of the new Arc card

• If the previous Arc card was registered at myArc.ca then please update the website with your new card information and report the old card as lost or stolen.

2. Student or parent purchases a new Arc card from a vending machine/kiosk/convenience store. 

• Arc cards obtained from any other source, besides the school office, will have a "purse product" associated with them (basically meaning that there is usually a $4 ride pass automatically added to the card).

• If this new card is registered within SchoolZone the transfer of monthly bus passes to this card will fail.  SchoolZone needs a blank Arc card to properly complete a card replacement.

• Arc cards obtained via these vendors and registered in SchoolZone will cause an error and display a "Resolve Error" button to the user, once the information is sent to ETS at one of the scheduled upload times (4 AM, Noon, 8 PM)

• If this occurs the user should click the "Resolve Error" button and notify the school office what has happened.

• The school office will then contact IT to have the monthly pass properly moved to the newly registered Arc card.

• This process may take up to two business days. Further card transfers will not be available during this time. 

• If the previous Arc card was registered at myArc.ca then please update the website with your new card information and report the old card as lost or stolen once the replacement process is complete and monthly bus pass(es) are displayed properly within SchoolZone.

• Alternatively, 

• If you receive a new blank Arc card from the School Office you can register this card within SchoolZone before clicking the "Resolve Error" button.  This should allow the transfer of items from the old card to the newly registered card.  The card purchased from the vendor can be used as a separate card, with the "purse product" on it but no monthly bus passes.

If you need help using your Arc card in SchoolZone, please connect with your school office administration. If you have other questions about Arc cards, go to myarc.ca or call the Arc call centre at 1-888-302-0001.