Mayor hopes app will eliminate long ferry tickets lineups

If you're thinking of getting away from the city this long weekend, there may be an easier way to get to the Island.

Starting tomorrow, you can buy ferry tickets for the JackLaytonFerry Terminal through asmartphoneapp,pay with a credit or debit card, and display the ticket on your phoneat a dedicated entry for prepaid ferry tickets.

• Top tips to beat Toronto Island ferry lineups this weekend

Mayor John Tory says he wants to make it faster to get through the long lineups.

"We want to increase the number of people who buy onlinebecausethis is going to help us to manage the lineups better and improve the experience of going to the island on the ferry and improve the flow of people on to the ferry."

The city will partner with Ritual, a Toronto-based digital ticketingapp,for a trial during the month of August.

About 1.3 million passengers took the ferry to Toronto Island last year. This year, that number is expected to go up by about15 per cent.

Riders not using citywebsite

The city first offered online ticket purchases on itswebsite last year, butonly 25 per centof ferry riders purchased tickets online.

Tory says that's because people didn't know they could buy ahead of time, and the citywebsiteis not very "mobile-friendly".

He said increasingonline ticket salesand bringing in additional park staff to help direct people through the gates will make long lineups movemore quickly.

"People who have pre-purchased tickets do not need to wait in the general line," he said. "They have to go to line number nine and just present their tickets there."

Tory also hopes to get moreadequatesignageto direct riders to the prepaid line.

New ferries for 2018

Tory said the city will get new ferries to handle the increase in trafficand encourage more use, with the first new ferry to hit the water in 2018.

Bids are being made for the contract now, sohow many new ferries the city will get will be based on cost.