Smart card passengers paid too much
14 January 2009
At least 220,000 passengers using Rotterdam’s buses, trams and metro paid too much for their tickets while travelling with the new public transport smart card last year, says news agency ANP.
In total, 24 million journeys were made using the new ticketing system (ov-chipkaart).
ANP bases its claims on confidential documents sent to junior transport minister Tineke Huizinga on Tuesday.
Rotterdam has been experimenting with the smart card, which will eventually replace all paper tickets on public transport, since 2005.
Cash back
The overpayments were made because passengers forgot to check out when leaving a tram or bus. The card works on the basis of payment in advance. When the card is swiped at the start of a journey, €4 is automatically deducted from it. The balance is returned at the journey’s end. Passengers can claim the missing cash back and some 100,000 have done so, ANP says.
Rotterdam’s public transport company RET plans to make travelling on the city’s metro smart card-only from the end of this month. RET says one in three passengers are currently using the automatic payment system.
MPs are due to question public transport officials and consumer experts about progress being made on the move towards the smart card on Wednesday afternoon, ANP says.
Source