DoTr wants more online ways to pay fares

The Department of Transportation (DoTr) wants to expand the online payment scheme to more modes of public transportation, Joseph Morong reported on “24 Oras” on Tuesday.

According to Randolph Ian Clet, project manager of DoTr’s automated fare collection system, the agency is seeking a unified card for all public utility vehicles (PUVs) and for online payments to include the use of mobile phones and QR codes.

“Dapat po pwede na rin ‘yung EMV contactless cards natin and ‘yung phone namin na may NCS technology pwede naming ipambayad. Similarly, ‘yun din pong mga jeepneys and buses,” he said.

(The EMV contactless card and phones with NCS technology should be allowed [for online payments]. Similarly, that should be allowed in jeepneys and buses.)

Clet also said the DoTr is eyeing the possibility of a “unified fare” but added it would only be possible if solution providers adhere to a national standard.

This means that a company offering tap cards for jeepneys should ensure it would be interoperable with trains and buses.

“‘Yung konsepto po ng unified fare...Hindi na ako kailangang mamroblema [na] hindi ako makakabayad sa una dahil at the end of the day, ‘yung EMV card yung magsho-shoulder,” Clet added.

(Should the concept of unified fare be implemented, commuters would not have to worry that they cannot pay for the next PUV trip they’re taking because the EMV would shoulder it.)

The transportation department is set to launch the national standards for solution providers within the next three months. As for the collection of jeepney fares, it would go to a system that would distribute the earnings to the operators. — Sundy Locus/BM, GMA Integrated News