More buses are rejecting fares paid in cash

A sign informing passengers that no cash payments will be accepted is seen on a Seoul city bus. [KANG GAP-SAENG]

Daejeon’s buses won't take cash from July, following a trend that has already begun in the capital and other cities.

The Daejeon city government announced Monday it will expand cashless buses to all of its routes beginning next month. Since last July, it has conducted a trial run for cashless buses on its Barota B1 bus line.

Few people paid in cash anyway.

According to Daejeon, the rate of cash use for bus fares dropped from 2.2 percent in 2020 to 1.8 percent in 2021 and 1.5 percent this year. The total number of fares on Daejeon buses was estimated are around 110 million people in 2021. Of them, only 2 million were in cash.

Managing fare collection boxes is a hassle compared to electronic payments.

It costs about 150 million won ($116,770) a year to process bus fares paid in cash, including labor costs, the city explained. A risk of injury while carrying around fare boxes, which weigh about 10 kilograms, was also mentioned.

To prevent any confusion, Daejeon set a three-month pilot operation period from July through September, and will keep the fare boxes during the period. Passengers will be allowed to pay in cash but will be given notices describing the change.

After September, passengers who do not have a transportation card will be told to transfer the bus fare to a bank account. The bus driver will give them a sheet with a bank account number on it so they can wire the money through their mobile phones.

By using a transportation card, passengers can benefit from discounted fares and get three free transfers.

The main groups worried about in the transition are children and senior citizens.

Daejeon said it will encourage the use of special transportation cards for children or passengers 65 or older, with which they can travel at a discounted fare or for free.

Cashless buses are also being operated in other cities in Korea, including Seoul, Incheon and Sejong.

The capital started with 171 buses on eight lines last October, and increased the number to 418 on 18 lines from January. The western port city Incheon expanded cashless buses from two lines in January to 228 buses on 17 lines since June 20.

BY SEO JI-EUN [seo.jieun1@joongang.co.kr]