‘One card for all public transports’ in 3-4 months

The government has approved the design of integrated circuit (IC) cards, the first of its kind, to introduce 'one card for all public transports' in next three to four months.
Official sources said the IC card, which has been named as 'Rapid Pass', will have display of mass rapid transit (MRT), bus rapid transit (BRT), and water transport on the bottom and pictures of Jatiya Sangsad Bhaban, Jatiya Smritisaudho and national flower on the top.
The design was approved at a meeting held at Road Transport and Bridges Ministry on December 30 after the Prime Minister named the card as Rapid Pass, they added.
The Dhaka Transport Coordination Authority (DTCA) has taken steps to introduce Rapid Pass on some routes of the Bangladesh Road Transport Corporation (BRTC), the Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Corporation (BIWTC) and two private sector bus companies.
It will gradually be introduced in other transport services, officials added.
An official said the DTCA has already received 5,000 cards from the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) as grant. Besides, an order to buy 60,000 has already been made to sell those among commuters.
He, however, said the IC cards will be issued after setting up of a clearing house at the DTCA and in an assigned bank to get real-time information on selling of cards and its uses.
Under a project titled 'Establishment of clearing house for integrating transport ticketing system in Dhaka city area', the DTCA has already invited expressions of interest (EoIs) to implement 'Rapid Pass' trial operation and four banks submitted their proposals to work as clearing house bank.
Clearing House is a mechanism that integrates multiple transport operators into a common fare ticket system, which is called 'One Card for All Public Transports'.
However, the DTCA in support of the JICA launched another IC card named SPASS in two BRTC bus services in 2012 and in commuter and DEMU (Diesel Electric Multiple Unit) service of the Bangladesh Railway in 2013.
It could not perform efficiently for its inability to provide real-time information of the IC card use as its clearing house was in Japan.
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