Cllr Brett Herron, Mayoral Committee Member for Transport, Roads and Stormwater at the City of Cape Town, says the City is taking a “visionary” approach in introducing the new myconnect card on the MyCiTi bus network, and has highlighted a host of ways in which the card benefits passengers.

Myconnect cards are now available at MyCiTi bus stations. From this Saturday, 21 January no more paper tickets will be sold. Travel will only be possible using the myconnect cards or tickets purchased before Saturday, 21 January. From January 28, paper tickets will no longer be accepted and the card will become the only way of paying for travel on a MyCiTi bus.

“The myconnect card is one of several elements that will help us transform public transport into a fast, reliable network comparable to the best such systems in the world,” said Herron. “As the MyCiTi network grows, increasing numbers of people will benefit from the many innovations of the system.”

The way the new fare systems works is that passengers load money onto their card at an open MyCiTi station kiosk, then tap the card against a validator as they enter a station or board a bus. The appropriate fare for their trip is then deducted from the balance on the card.

This facility gives all passengers smoother, faster access to the buses and stations as there is no need to buy or produce tickets and wait for them to be torn, Herron said. There is also no need for passengers to carry the right amount of small change to pay for the fare every time they catch a bus. Instead, they can now plan ahead and buy a month’s worth of travel, or more, at a time.

A banking fee of 2.5%, or a minimum of R1,50, is charged on each transaction. This minimal fee is levied by ICT Works, the subcontractor providing the myconnect service. The fee pays for the sophisticated back-office systems and infrastructure at the bus stations that make the myconnect service possible.

Passengers will soon have the opportunity to avoid the banking fee. “Later in the year transit products will become available for regular travellers, who will be able to buy bulk travel upfront without paying the banking fees,” Herron said. “Concessions such as discounts for bulk purchases, and a further discount for off-peak travel, will also be introduced.”

Another advantage of the myconnect card is that it introduces a banking product to people who have never used debit cards before. Cardholders can use the myconnect card to make purchases of up to R200 at any retailer, such as Pick ‘n Pay. This can be done by inserting the card into a card machine and punching in the pin code, or simply tapping the card against a validator at outlets where PayPass is accepted.

The card will help the City of Cape Town eliminate the problem of fare evasion and the high cost of printing and issuing the paper tickets, thereby saving taxpayers’ money. The card will also help avoid the discarded, used tickets that have been dropped around some stations, despite the provision of litter bins.

“Yet another benefit for the passengers is that that card offers protection against loss or theft,” said Herron. “If a card is lost or stolen, the money on the card can be recovered and loaded onto a new card, provided if the card is reported as stolen and the customer keeps the original receipt.

“The myconnect card is a one aspect of our vision for MyCiTi – which is to introduce all the best possible technology to create the best possible public transport system,” he said.