From April, No Cash Payment Allowed on Daegu City Buses... Full Implementation of 'Cashless City Buses'

"Saving 820 Million KRW Annually"
Potential Inconvenience for Seniors and Foreigners Expected

Starting April 1, Daegu will fully implement a 'cashless city bus' system, eliminating cash boxes on buses and requiring fare payment exclusively via transportation cards. Before the full implementation, the pilot operation will be expanded from 24th until March 31st to cover 1,034 buses on 77 routes, and from April 1, it will be extended to 1,652 buses on 127 city bus routes.

Since July last year, the first phase involved 98 buses on 5 routes, and the second phase included 583 buses on 40 routes, operating the 'cashless city bus' pilot for seven months. As a result, the proportion of passengers not using transportation cards or paying with cash among all Daegu city bus users significantly decreased from 1.4% to 0.8%, indicating that most passengers use transportation cards.

Daegu City Hall Sangyeok Office

In particular, with the nationwide first distribution of the 'Senior Integrated Free Fare Transportation Card' and the gradual expansion of the eligible age group, it was found that elderly passengers do not experience significant inconvenience with the 'cashless city bus' system.

Based on this, Daegu City has decided to fully implement the 'cashless city bus' system starting April 1. Additionally, in line with the city bus route reorganization on the 24th, the pilot operation fleet will be significantly expanded from 583 buses on 40 routes to 1,034 buses on 77 routes, accounting for 66% of Daegu's city bus fleet.

A Daegu city official stated, "The cashless city bus rates were surveyed as 26% in Seoul, 75% in Incheon, and 100% in Daejeon. Daejeon has been operating cashless city buses on all routes since October last year."

The operation of 'cashless city buses' prevents risks of accidents and delays caused by change handling and reduces costs required for managing cash revenue (82 million KRW annually).

Furthermore, citizens can enjoy fare discounts and free transfer benefits by using transportation cards.

Passengers without transportation cards can receive a fare payment guide inside the bus to make a bank transfer or use a QR code posted at bus stops to issue a mobile transportation card and use the bus.

Daegu City Bus

Heo Jun-seok, Director of Daegu City's Transportation Bureau, said, "During the extended pilot operation period of the cashless city bus, we ask passengers to prepare in advance by purchasing transportation cards at nearby convenience stores, large supermarkets, or subway stations to enjoy benefits such as free transfers and fare discounts."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.