Pilot automated fare collection system to run for 9 to 12 months —DOTr exec

The pilot operation of the automated fare collection system will run for nine to 12 months, Department of Transportation (DOTr) Undersecretary Timothy John Batan said Monday.

Interviewed on GMA News' Unang Balita, Batan said if the pilot implementation becomes successful, the system will accept more payment cards aside from Land Bank of the Philippines cards and cover more public utility vehicle (PUV) units and routes.

“Sa kasalukuyan po ay sa pili pa lamang na mga units at ruta ito pong automated fare collection system kasama ang Land Bank dahil nga po sa unang siyam hanggang 12 buwan ay pilot testing pa lamang po ang ating isasagawa,” he said.

(Right now, only select units and routes are included in the  automated fare collection system with Land Bank because we are just conducting a pilot test for the first nine to 12 months.)

Batan earlier said the Automated Fare Collection System Euro-Mastercard-Visa Pilot Production Testing Project (AFCS EMV PPT) aims to establish a cashless payment in modern PUVs.

According to him, passengers can still pay cash if they do not have payment cards.

Currently, only Land Bank prepaid and credit contactless cards are accepted in the 150 participating PUVs in the country under the pilot run, according to the DOTr.

Once the necessary regulations or policies have been issued, the Land Bank AFCS solution can also accept and process the EMV contactless cards issued by other local banks, it added.  —KBK, GMA News