\'Rapid Pass\' for city\'s public transports soon

Munima Sultana | Published: December 19, 2015 00:00:00 | Updated: February 01, 2018 00:00:00

The government has taken a fresh move to introduce another fare collection system -- 'Rapid Pass' -- for all public transports in the capital due to the failure of the first such pre-paid system smartcard -- SPASS, sources said.
Under the move, integrated circuit (IC)-cards will be provided this time for making the system efficient, they said.
Earlier, under a pilot project SPASS was introduced in two bus services of Bangladesh Road Transport Corporation (BRTC) in the capital in 2011 and 2012 and in commuter and DEMU (Diesel Electric Multiple Unit) service of Bangladesh Railway in 2013.
SPASS, operated by IC technology, was supposed to provide uniform tickets for passengers of all modes of transport --Â road, rail, water -- and mass transit systems. It was supposed to have facilities like recharge and reuse of the card to ensure cashless transaction and automated transport fair deduction according to distance.
However, SPASS could not perform efficiently for its inability to provide real-time information of the IC card use as well as its outside-the-country server.
BRTC, however, maintained the IC cards in one of its air-conditioned bus services on a limited scale. But it has recently closed the service for failure of the card to provide real-time information.
There was mismatch in information provided by the IC card service provider and the BRTC bus operators regarding use of the card.
BRTC alleged that SPASS could not provide real-time information, as its server was outside the country. Meanwhile, another source said failure of the SPASS was totally related to irregularities and mismanagement in ticket collection system of BRTC. The corporation's staff and its lease-taking bus operators were unwilling to use the IC cards to misappropriate money from selling the tickets.
Officials said to overcome mismatch of information, the government has now decided to introduce the new IC card -- 'Rapid Pass' -- by setting up a server in the country under the Dhaka Transport Coordination Authority (DTCA).
"This time we will set up the server and recharge stations as well as make banking arrangement for efficient and integrated use of the IC card," said an official.
Under a project, titled 'Establishment of clearing house for integrating transport ticketing system in Dhaka city area', DTCA has already invited expressions of interest (EoIs) to implement 'Rapid Pass' trial operation.
Under the project, approved by the Planning Commission in June, DTCA is working to select a bank for setting up a clearing house upon receiving EoIs from six commercial banks.
DTCA has also made 5,000 cards available, as a pilot project on 'Rapid Pass' operation was launched last month for the Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Corporation (BIWTA) passengers.
A steering committee has been formed to take the project-related decisions, including integrating the ticketing system with mass rapid transit, bus rapid transit and other public transport modes.
When asked, a DTCA official said decision was also taken to return money to the passengers, who bought SPASS but were not able to avail its service.
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