Commuters outside Metro Manila can now experience the cashless bus system as Iloilo City runs its first set of cashless buses in a partnership with the Department of Transportation.
The transportation agency turned over the city’s first set of cashless buses earlier this week and will ply the routes of Iloilo to Roxas City, as well as Kalibo and Caticlan in Aklan.
Passengers riding the buses will need to pay using a beep card.
DOTr secretary Art Tugade said that the cashless payment scheme would significantly contribute to a safer and more efficient public transport system in Iloilo City, and would further safeguard against COVID-19 transmission.
Secretary Tugade also hoped that the public would benefit from the project to facilitate a safer and happier way of life, as well as boost recovery in business and the local economy not just in Iloilo City, but across the Visayas region.
The government first implemented cashless payment schemes on buses plying EDSA in Metro Manila in September last year, as part of its efforts to curb the spread of COVID-19 on public transport in the metro.
The DOTr also turned over 25 units of “e-trikes” or electronic tricycles as part of its memorandum of agreement with the Iloilo city government.
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