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Busan to Pilot “Cashless Buses” Starting in October for More Convenient and Safer Public Transportation

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Busan Metropolitan City, led by Mayor Chun Jae-soo, will conduct a three-month pilot of “cashless buses” beginning in October to respond to declining cash use and the shift toward transportation card-based public transit, while creating a more convenient and safer environment for city bus passengers.

The proportion of passengers using cash on city buses has continued to decline in recent years, with most residents now using non-cash payment methods such as transportation cards.

Despite the decline in cash use, however, maintaining and managing cash fare boxes and counting and administering cash fare revenue continue to require substantial costs and personnel. This has prompted calls for improvements to the bus fare collection system in line with the changing public transportation environment.

Accordingly, Busan Metropolitan City will pilot cashless buses primarily on routes with low rates of cash use and will carefully gather feedback on passenger inconvenience and operational conditions during the pilot to improve the system.

The pilot will cover 542 buses on 35 routes, approximately 20% of all city buses. The routes were selected primarily from seated bus services and routes with relatively low rates of cash use.

The City will comprehensively analyze passenger inconvenience, the use of alternative payment methods by passengers who normally pay in cash, feedback from bus drivers and operators, and the number and nature of complaints. After making any necessary improvements, it plans to expand the system citywide.

In particular, the City will make minimizing inconvenience for digitally vulnerable groups, including older adults, its top priority during implementation, while providing alternative payment methods and conducting advance public outreach.

To ensure that passengers carrying only cash are not prevented from using buses, the system will operate on the principle of allowing them to board first, with passengers able to pay the fare by bank transfer after boarding.

The City will also conduct a transportation card distribution campaign by visiting areas with large numbers of older pedestrians, including traditional markets. It will carry out intensive outreach through various media, including promotional materials inside and outside buses and newspaper advertisements, so that residents are fully informed about the pilot routes and how to use the service.

The City also expects that establishing a transportation card-based fare collection system will provide more accurate ridership data, which will help support efficient, data-driven management of city bus routes in the future.

Hwang Hyun-cheol, Director-General of the Transportation Innovation Bureau, said, “Cashless buses are an improvement designed to enable residents to use buses more conveniently and safely in line with the changing public transportation environment. During the pilot period, we will thoroughly gather feedback from residents and those working in the field, and we will prioritize minimizing inconvenience caused by the change through sufficient advance information and guidance.”