No Touch Required for Payment...Gyeonggi Province Introduces Contactless Bus Fare System

[Suwon Ilbo=Reporter Park No-hoon] Gyeonggi Province's metropolitan buses are moving forward with demonstration of a 'contactless bus fare payment system' to prevent COVID-19 infection in buses and enhance user convenience.

Gyeonggi Province announced on the 27th that it will conduct a technology demonstration of 'contactless bus fare payment and mobile exit bell' service in cooperation with Loca Mobility Co., Ltd. from June 1 to July 31.

This technology demonstration will be conducted on three metropolitan bus routes—G1300, G6000, and G6100—which operate between the Uijeongbu and Yangju areas and the Jamsil Metropolitan Transfer Center in Seoul. However, double-decker buses and chartered buses are excluded.

The 'contactless fare payment service' is a service where, after installing the 'Tagless Pay-app' on a smartphone and registering a prepaid or postpaid transportation card, boarding and alighting processing as well as payment are automatically handled when users board or alight from the bus at the transportation card terminal without separate card contact (tagging).

Beacons installed inside the bus vehicle detect the Bluetooth signal from passengers' smartphones to determine whether they are boarding or alighting.

When transferring to subway or bus services that do not provide contactless fare payment service, transfer discounts can be applied by turning on the smartphone screen and contacting (tagging) the card terminal.

Additionally, when a passenger presses the mobile exit bell button in the app before getting off the bus, an alarm indicating an alighting passenger is displayed to the bus driver, eliminating the need to physically press the exit bell button or get up from one's seat to move toward the exit.

For inconveniences or inquiries while using the app, users can contact Loca Mobility Co., Ltd.'s call center (1644-0006) for detailed guidance.

During the technology demonstration period, the province will form an expert verification panel centered on the Gyeonggi Research Institute to conduct comprehensive verification on system security, stability, and convenience.

Additionally, the province plans to review user-perceived inconveniences through general user surveys and analysis of payment error complaints, identify improvements, and request Loca Mobility Co., Ltd. to make improvements.

Upon completion of this technology demonstration, the province plans to expand the service to intercity and metropolitan buses from the second half of this year and gradually expand the deployment routes to city and village buses on a year-by-year basis.

Park Tae-hwan, Director of the Transportation Bureau, said, "We expect that the introduction of the contactless bus fare payment system and mobile exit bell will minimize passengers' risk of COVID-19 infection and also help prevent in-bus safety accidents." He added, "The province plans to continue developing and applying contactless public transportation services that can be provided at bus stops, bus terminals, and other locations."