A new step has been taken in Odesa towards the implementation of the electronic ticket in public transport. Passengers are expected to be allowed to pay for travel with a bank card, through a mobile application, or by QR code, with special cards for beneficiaries. Details of the future system are reported by «Odesa Life».
How the electronic ticket will work in Odesa
The project includes a competition to determine the operator of the electronic payment system. Validators are to be installed by each door in trams and trolleybuses, with plans to equip buses and minibuses later.
Payment for trips can be made:
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with a bank card;
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through a mobile application;
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with a one-time QR code purchased at a terminal;
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with a beneficiary card or through an application for passengers entitled to free travel.
At the first stage, cash payments will not be eliminated. Passengers will still be able to pay the driver as they do now. The head of the transport commission of the Odesa City Council, Petro Obukhov, suggests that the city can completely eliminate cash within one to two years.
The electronic accounting will also allow the city to see the real passenger flow on each route. Based on this data, it is planned to adjust the transport network.
Odesa plans to introduce a ticket with free transfers
The next step may be a transfer ticket. For example, a passenger will buy it for one and a half hours and during this time can transfer from a trolleybus to a tram or a minibus without paying again.
The system will also separately account for trips of beneficiaries. The right to free travel will be checked during the card registration or automatically through state registries, rather than each time during boarding.
In the future, the beneficiary card is planned to be expanded to a «social card of an Odesan», which could provide discounts at pharmacies, stores, and other establishments.
The city also plans to gradually transition to paying carriers for completed routes. In such a model, funds for travel will go to the city budget, and transport companies will receive a fixed fee for adhering to the scheduled timetable.
The project regarding electronic payment is currently available on the city's website. After the required one-month period, the document will be considered by the executive committee and the city council, after which a competition can be held to choose an operator. According to Obukhov, after determining the winner, the shortest period for launching the system will be 6-8 months.