Common ticket for Bangkok buses to be used from 1 October

[webfact]

Common ticket for Bangkok buses to be used from 1 October

 

BANGKOK, 30 August 2017 (NNT) – The Ministry of Transport plans to pilot a common ticket for the Bangkok Mass Transit Authority's buses from 1 October 2017, said Transport Minister Arkhom Termpittayapaisith. 

He said the Ministry of Transport had submitted a study report on the common transportation ticket system to the cabinet, which will be provided with a single stored value card for passengers to pay for fares in the BMTA network. 

The cabinet approved the guideline suggested in the study and the establishment of a common ticket management and maintenance agency called "CTC" in an initial phase as a subsidiary of the Mass Rapid Transit Authority of Thailand's (MRTA) ticketing unit as well as the use of a single clearing house to manage its revenue. 

The MRTA will shortly negotiate with private transport firms to adopt the common ticket, which will be piloted for payments on board BMTA buses from 1 October 2017, prior to the utilization on the Airport Rail Link, BTS Green Line, and MRT Blue Line and Purple Line. 

The card will be accepted in all modes of transportation and as payment cards at participating shops. The system is also capable of integrating with the government's database on benefits provided to registered low-income earners in order for eligible card holders to pay for bus rides according to their entitled benefits.

 

-- nnt 2017-08-30

[oldcarguy]

How will this work ?

 

if I get on the cheap red bus with no AC , and pay for my ticket  , can I transfer to the AirCo Yellow bus and then the BTS on the same ticket ?   

Or is it just a payment card that each company can delete money for each ride ,

 

the cheap Red buses still have wood floors ,  how are they going to keep the computer ticket machine working :)

[Crossy]

I note that the press releases seem to have stopped using the word Mangmoom for this card, I wonder why.

 

@oldcarguy it's a payment card like Rabbit which will eventually (and unlike Rabbit) work pretty much everywhere. The system also allows for transfer discounts when transferring between the various modes and there are a couple of trip and time based passes available too.

 

At least that's the theory, the whole project should have been operating at least 2 years back but it's being controlled by Thai government committees, need I say more?

 

Exactly what will go live in October is currently unclear (I've not been associated with the bus implementation). At least the bus system was designed by KSCC, the Korean outfit who did the Seoul T-Money card, so it stands a chance of working reasonably well.

 

 

[tonray]

Just in the past month I have seen the buses (red/blue/yellow/pink) be outfitted with an LCD Terminal behind the driver so they apparently are already installing part of the system.

[Searat7]

October was the timeframe when common card was supposed to be used on BTS, MRT, Airport Link and SOME buses. There have been numerous promises to provide this card during the last several years for BTS and MRT but it looks like another commitment won't be met.