Passengers of the Sambir and Turkiv directions will be the first to use the innovation.
On November 3, at the bus station in the city of Sambir, the “check-in – check-out” system was presented, which recently became operational on suburban and intercity bus routes in the Lviv region.
When entering the bus, the passenger just needs to attach a bank card or any device with the NFS function to the validator. In this way, the system registers the starting point of the “check-in” route. When exiting, the passenger applies the card to the validator again and registers the completion of the trip “check-out”. The system automatically calculates the distance and the number of stops that he traveled and then withdraws money for the trip. If there is no registration at the time of exit, the system will debit the amount of the fare equivalent to the cost of the final stop from the personal bank account.
“The investor has already established possession of more than 800 units of transport, in the end there will be almost 1,000. We have decided to launch electronic calculation by directions. Already today, from this bus station, we can travel in all directions by paying with a bank card or gadgets. Why do we do that? During the implementation of the project, it became clear to us that not only the passenger should be taught how to use the e-ticket, but also the drivers. Under the previous system, where the driver chose the passenger’s route by pressing the corresponding buttons on the dashboard, it took a lot of time and distracted the driver from the road. That’s why we settled on the Check-In/Check-Out system, which is optimal,” Oleksandr Kulepin said.
Equipment for cashless payment for travel has been installed on all suburban and intercity bus routes operating in the territory of Lviv region. In addition to Sambir Oblast, electronic toll payment works in test mode in other areas of our region. Soon the system will be fully operational in all areas.
“We managed to launch the Check-In/Check-Out system even faster than planned. Earlier, we said that it would come into effect at the end of the year, but it has already been successfully implemented today. Passengers will also soon receive a pleasant bonus. Our partner, the international payment system VISA, is ready to give a 20% discount to passengers who will make cashless payments to encourage people to abandon cash on buses. When it will work, it will be announced later,” said Oleg Dolinskyi, a representative of the Smart Ticket Technology company.
Passengers will be able to see their expenses in the corresponding program that can be downloaded to their phone.
“The e-ticket will help to make the circulation of money in the public transport of Lviv Oblast more transparent. In addition, there will be a clear accounting of beneficiaries, and it will be possible to buy travel tickets through a mobile application. Paying by card is only the first step. There is still a lot of work to do!” – said Yuriy Buchko, deputy head of LOVA.
“In case of any problems or questions, there will be representatives of the Smart Ticket Technology company at the regional bus stations to help passengers. The buses also have instructions and the company’s hotline number,” said Stepan Rudnytskyi, head of LOVA’s transport and communications department.
We will remind you that the introduction of e-tickets in Lviv Oblast is being implemented within the framework of cooperation of the Lviv OVA with an investor on the implementation of Smart Ticket Technology ASOOP and with the support of the VISA international payment system.