The Prague Public Transit Company (DPP) will install terminals for payment of the ticket by card in all its buses. On Friday the company started installing terminals in trams where they had not yet been. They will start working by the end of April. A selection procedure shall be issued for the operation of terminals on DPP buses.
The card can now be used in Prague in trams on lines 18 and 22. “We want to introduce contactless payment into all DPP buses. I assume that we will announce a contract for this service this year,” said Petr Witowski, CEO of the company. At the end of last year, the company introduced a non-cash payment of the fare on suburban bus lines it operates.
By the end of April, all the trams will be equipped with payment terminals. Contactless payment will be possible at the middle door. On tram models 14T, known colloquially as Porsche, there will be two devices since the tram does not have a middle door.
The device will print a ticket for the passenger, which like other transit tickets can be used on other public transport links up until its time limit expires.
Last year, the company signed a four-year contract with Banking Information Technology to operate its terminals in trams. The CSOB company will pay a commission of 1.99 per cent of the ticket price.
In some Czech cities, such as Ostrava, Karlovy Vary, and Liberec, contactless card payment devices on the public transport network are already up and running.
Gradually, ticket vending machines in stations are also being renewed with new types of devices. In addition to the original services, these new devices will allow for cash and non-cash payment of tickets, touchscreen operation, and a search engine for transport connections. During the first half of next year, an additional 100 machines will replace the old machines that only accepted coins.
Prague has over 800 trams according to the DPP website, with the T3 model and its variants, introduced in 1960, still the most common and accounting for over half of the fleet. The more modern 15T accounts for about one-quarter of the fleet.
Author: Roberta Zoch
