‘G-Bus to be transformed into Smart Bus’ which passengers don’t need to tag the card

G-bus, a public bus in Gyeonggi-do Province, will transform into a "smart bus" where fares automatically pay.

Gyeonggi-do Province announced on January 5 that it will launch a "non-contact (tagless) bus fare payment service" in which fares are automatically paid when boarding public buses in Gyeonggi-do starting from the 24th of this month.

The "Tagless Bus fare Payment Service" was introduced by Gyeonggi-do to minimize concerns about COVID-19 infection caused by public transportation and to significantly improve the convenience of bus passengers.

If you register a prepaid or deferred transportation card after installing the "Tagless Pay-App" on your smartphone, you will automatically process and pay for getting on and off without a separate card contact (tag) with the transportation card terminal.

The principle of determining whether to get on or off through Bluetooth wireless communication between beacons installed in vehicles and smartphones of users was used.

In addition, if a passenger presses the "Mobile Get-off Bell" button on the app before getting off the bus, the driver will be notified that there is a get-off passenger, so there is no need to get up and move to press the get-off bell directly.

The service targets 1,760 buses on 212 routes, excluding double-decker buses and double-door vehicles, among all public bus routes in Gyeonggi-do, and plans to be introduced step by step throughout this year.

The service will be launched sequentially for 133 routes from 18 cities in Gimpo on January 24, 111 routes from 11 cities in 3 cities, including Uijeongbu, Yangju, and Pocheon on February 21, and 1,516 routes from 183 cities and counties, including Suwon on March 21.

Gyeonggi Province plans to attach a Tagless sticker on the outside of the vehicle so that passengers can check whether the service is a supported bus before boarding, and display an icon indicating whether to support Tagless on the location information service of the Gyeonggi Bus Information App.

If you use a bus or subway that does not provide the service or transfer, contact (tag) the card terminal with the smartphone screen on, and you can receive a fee payment and transfer discount in an existing way.

In order to establish the service in an early stage, Loca Mobility Co., Ltd., a developer, ▲will pay 3,000 won for the first installation of the app (1.17 ~ 4.20), ▲ 1,000 won transportation card charging compensation (20 times a month) (1.24 ~ 4.20) for each service.

Kang Hyun-do, director of the transportation bureau in Gyeonggi Province, said, "We expect that the introduction of contactless bus fare payment services will not only minimize the risk of COVID-19 infection in vehicles but also greatly help prevent safety accidents and improve convenience."

Reported by Smart City Today