In Lviv, from December 11, 2023, cashless fare payment will be available on all city buses, trams and trolleybuses.
What changes are waiting for passengers in a month and what should be paid attention to today – the head of the department of urban mobility and street infrastructure Oleg Zabarylo answers the most pressing questions that may arise for users of public transport.
1. How to pay for travel on public transport in Lviv from December 11?
From December 11, it will be possible to pay cashless in all types and on all routes of Lviv city public transport.
Passengers of buses, trams and trolleybuses will have the opportunity to pay for travel not only with bank cards, mobile devices supporting Apple Pay\Google Pay, or cash, but also with a LeoKart transport card. The sale of LeoKart transport cards “for everyone” will start on November 15.
2. Where exactly will it be possible to purchase a LeoKart transport card?
At the beginning of the deployment of the retail network, from November 15, it will be possible to purchase a LeoKart at 39 points at the main public transport stops in Lviv. These are “Interpress” kiosks and EasyPay terminals.
The network will expand, so from December 1, cards can be bought at about 80 locations.
The cost of the ticket-carrying card will be UAH 60. The owner will be able to top it up with the amount he needs. We will inform you about the specific addresses of the points of sale in the near future.
3. How and where to top up LeoKart balance?
This will be possible at the same LeoKart points of sale and at additional points. In general, from November 15, there will be about 100 such locations, and in December there will be more than 300 of them. Also, the replenishment function will be available online – on the website of LKP “Lvivavtodor”.
LeoKart cards can be topped up in the amount of 1 hryvnia. But we recommend topping up the card for an amount not less than the cost of one trip.
The commission fee, regardless of the amount or method of replenishment of the card, will not be charged to the passenger.
4. Will daily/monthly/quarterly/annual travel passes be available from December 11?
Passes for travel in public transport, as well as the possibility of free transfers, will be available at the next stage, when the city will pay carriers for transport work. Now the passenger pays the carrier for the route he used.
5. Will the driver still be able to pay in cash?
So. The passenger will be able to pay for the fare in cash, but will be required to obtain a one-time paper ticket from the driver. The ticket will have a QR code with information about the route number, day and time of ticket purchase. The ticket must be kept until the end of the trip. But keep in mind that paying in cash will not be profitable for the passenger at all. The purpose of the e-ticket is to withdraw cash from city transportation.
Download photo 6. What should a passenger know in order to correctly make a non-cash payment?
To make a non-cash payment, the passenger must attach a bank card, a device supporting ApplePay\GooglePay or LeoCard to the validator in the cabin and wait for a single beep and a green mark on the validator. This means that your payment has been credited.
IMPORTANT – a paper ticket is not issued to the passenger with this method of payment.
7. When paying for a fare without cash, will the funds be debited immediately?
No. Passengers who pay with a bank card or device with the NFC function should remember that the money is not debited from the account immediately, but during the next day, because the automated fare payment system is built on the basis of delayed authorization. This is done for quick boarding of passengers in transport. Passengers can receive notifications in the application about pre-authorization – 1 hryvnia is “frozen” on the account. This is how the system checks whether the card is active. After the toll is withdrawn, this 1 hryvnia is returned to the account.
8. Will discount licenses be valid in public transport?
From the date of introduction of cashless fare payment (from December 11, 2023) in all public transport, the right to discounted fare is granted only if you have a personalized LeoKart transport card.
From December 11, various certificates that grant the right to discounted travel will no longer be valid in Lviv public transport.
Therefore, we strongly recommend that you get a discount LeoKart before December 11, as more than 200,000 residents of the Lviv community have already done.
9. What should those residents who are entitled to discounted travel, but do not yet have a discounted LeoCard, do?
We strongly urge these residents to issue a LeoKart by December 11.
Preferential cards are issued free of charge in 10-15 minutes at one of the 6 points of document submission/issuance of cards. They are located on the street. Gorbachevsky, 10, str. Vyhovsky, 32, ave. Chervonoi Kalina, 72a, str. Pasichnaya, 49b, str. Lypynskogo, 11 and St. Khvylovoi, 14a.
To do this, you need to sign up for the electronic queue at the hotline phone number: 0 800 303 007 and come to the selected point at the specified time.
10. Will beneficiaries who are not residents of the Lviv MTG now have to pay in Lviv city transport?
People who have the right to discounted travel in public transport, but do not live, work or study on the territory of the Lviv MTG, can also get a LeoKart discount transport card and continue to use city transport free of charge. The procedure for its production is the same as for Lviv residents: you need to sign up for an electronic queue and choose one of the points in Lviv where it will be convenient to issue a card. They also have to pay the cost of the ticket-carrying card – UAH 60.
These points are regulated by the Law of Ukraine “On Road Transport”, in particular Article 41, which states that when an automated fare payment system is implemented in a certain community, the right to discounted fare is granted exclusively on the basis of a registered electronic ticket.
At the same time, we are considering the possibility of opening a LeoKart issuing location near the railway station – on Sq. Dvirtseva Thus, guests of Lviv will be able to get a discount card on the spot, literally in a few minutes.
11. How will it be checked whether the passenger has paid/validated the fare in public transport?
From December 11, the controllers will control the passage in all types of transport. Now it will not be the function of the driver to remind passengers about the need to pay the fare.
Controllers will carry a portable mini-terminal for testing. At the beginning of the check, the controller will block the on-board ASOP system (validators). This will prevent any payment or fare validation during the inspection. To the mini-terminal of the controller, the passenger must attach the means (bank card, phone with NFC system, LeoCard) that was used for cashless payment of the fare. The controller verifies the fact of validation, not the debiting of funds from the bank card.
Similarly, with the help of the same device, the validation of discount LeoCards is checked.
Passengers who paid cash from the driver must provide a paper ticket for verification – the controller will read all the necessary information from the QR code on it through a mini-terminal.
12. In what cases does the passenger risk receiving a fine?
After a month, you will be able to receive a fine for unpaid or unvalidated discounted travel. The same as for free travel on the basis of one or another ID. We would like to remind you that from December 11, various preferential licenses in Lviv public transport will not be valid.
Passengers are requested to be responsible and pay for the fare. When paying without cash, follow the marks on the validator and make sure that the payment is successful (a green “bird” has appeared). In the case of cash payment, ask the driver for a paper ticket and keep it throughout the trip.
Owners of preferential and student LeoCards should also be careful and remember that the controller will not check the presence of the card, but rather the fact of validation. If the beneficiary has a LeoKart, but does not validate it, then such a trip will be considered unpaid and the beneficiary (!) will have to pay a fine. The amount of the fine is still being calculated. This will be reported further.
13. Will electric transport passengers be able to use travel passes that are still valid at the moment?
Season tickets purchased before December 11 and valid on the date of travel will be valid until their expiration date. We also temporarily leave the possibility of payment via Privat24 and EasyPay in order to make the transition to the new payment system as least stressful for passengers.
14. Is it true that students who issue a LeoKart will be able to travel on city buses for half the price?
Thus, since the introduction of cashless payment in all public transport, students, in possession of the corresponding student LeoKart, will be able to travel with a 50% discount not only in electric transport, as it is now, but also in city buses. To issue a card, the student only needs to prepare the necessary package of documents and hand it over to the person responsible for their collection at his educational institution. Cards will also be issued centrally – through the university.
15. What should the passenger do if the validators are not working in the cabin?
In this case, the passenger has the right not to pay for the fare. Instead, in the event of a failure of the fare payment system or its individual components, the driver must continue along the route to the final stop and leave the flight to repair the equipment.
IMPORTANTLY
The list of preferential categories of people who can issue a preferential LeoKart free of charge and, accordingly, use public transport in Lviv free of charge – here.
Learn more about how to issue a discount LeoKart here.
Learn more about how to issue a student LeoCard here