The Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC) will soon introduce smart card ticket facilities – much like the Delhi Metro – for travel aboard its buses, a senior official said.
According to DTC officials, the tender for electronic ticketing machines (ETM), which would require a passenger to simply swipe the monthly bus pass at the entrance of a bus, would be floated in the coming week.
“We have decided to introduce smart card monthly-bus pass on the lines of the Metro, which will be very useful to passengers travelling on DTC buses. Passengers will be required to swipe the smart card through the ETM at the time of boarding buses,” said a senior DTC official.
In the first phase of the project, the DTC has decided to purchase 200 ETMs and gradually increase their number on its buses as and when the initiative generates a good response.
Currently, the monthly bus pass is made on paper with a DTC watermark at designated pass centres, which is time consuming for commuters – mostly students who are among the largest consumers of the service and are given concessional rates for travel.
In addition to the hassle both for passengers and its own staff, which has to contend with personalised ticketing and pass verification, the DTC currently has no way of ascertaining popular routes and destinations.
“After the introduction of smart card bus pass, we will be able to find out the flow of passengers at various routes and according to which we can improve services; in terms of convenience, passengers will be able to recharge these cards at designated spots at a swipe,” the official said adding that modalities associated with the tendering process would be finalised over the coming week.
