End of the line for paper tickets on buses

HCM CITY (VNS)— HCM City plans to use technology to improve bus services, switching to smart cards from paper tickets and installing GPS's on board to keep track of them.

The Departments of Transport and Science and Technology will submit the plan to the People's Committee in October for approval.

If approved, the smart cards will be introduced by 2013, with passengers swiping them instead of buying tickets from the conductor.

They are already being tested on two routes – Ben Thanh to Cho Lon and An Suong – but passengers are reluctant to buy them since they cannot be used on other buses.

But Duong Hong Thanh, deputy chairman of the Department of Transport, said it would cease to be an inconvenience when all buses are equipped with the system.

The departments plan to expand the pilot system in the last quarter of this year by installing smart card readers on 121 buses plying on five routes.

They said the cards would also be used on the metro and monorail routes in the future.

GPS systems will be installed on buses to monitor their progress. At bus stations, electronic boards will be installed to provide information about buses arriving on various routes.

Bus drivers would have screens on board providing them information about traffic congestion and other incidents on the route ahead. — VNS