JOIN USJust like Delhi Metro, the city buses could soon have smart card-based ticketing. Delhi Integrated Multi-Modal Transit System is doing a trial run at the Millennium Depot.
“These smart cards would work more like debit cards,” said DIMTS Chief S N Sahai. The system will use electronic readers that deduct fares from the accounts of riders entering buses, eliminating the need for tickets and paper passes, and reducing the requirement for cash.
But this system will be different from that of the Delhi Metro. While moving in and out of buses, commuters will have to give their cards to the bus conductor who would be carrying the electronic readers. Swiping the cards, the conductors will have to enter the destination code.
Sahai said a closed group of employees are doing the trails. “When a person uses the Metro, he moves from one destination to another. But in this case, the bus passengers do not move because the bus itself is moving,” he said.
If this ticketing process is implemented, the Rs 40-daily bus passes could be revoked. “Why should a passenger decide early in the day whether he needs the daily bus pass? If a passenger has spent more than Rs 40, he could be able to travel the whole day free,” he said.
The organisation is also exploring options of integrated ticketing so that same card could be used for bus and Metro rides. “At a later stage, we will see how it can work on the Metro,” said Sahai.
He added that first the smart card ticketing on buses would have to wait for approval from the next government.