They say cash is king, but Joburg Metrobus says cash-less is the future, as they forge ahead with their plan, come October 1.
Joburg Metrobus said the move aims to enhance the convenience and efficiency of their services.
At the beginning of last month, Metrobus notified its current and potential commuters that effective from October 1, it is going cashless.
City of Joburg’s Roads and Transport MMC Kenny Kunene said this is an important development at Metrobus following the launch of their ambitious programme of the entity going digital.
Kunene said in order to meet the expectations of their current commuters and attract more commuters, it is important to ensure that their service is reliable and that they become a preferred mode of travel for as many of the residents of the City of Johannesburg as possible.
He said Metrobus aims to contribute significantly to the vision of making Joburg a smart city.
“Commuters will not be able to use cash to purchase our services and no cash will be accepted when bus tags are purchased or re-filled,” said Kunene.
He said a cashless environment is beneficial to both commuters and Metrobus as bus operators and commuters will be safe from all the hazards of handling cash.
Kunene said the purchase price of tags will be significantly reduced to allow as many commuters as possible to purchase tags.
“In a world where we have all experienced the devastation of communicable diseases, this new way of doing business ensures that proper health practices are observed for the health and safety of both our commuters and bus operators.
“The current by-law on fare evasion on municipal transport requires that all commuters pay for transport services in the manner prescribed by the service provider. Fare evasion is an offence that is punishable in law,” he said.
Kunene said Metrobus has increased its network of sales outlets to ensure that all their current and potential commuters have ease of access to their services. “This new way of doing business will ensure that Metrobus has accurate information on profile, numbers and location of commuters. This will enable Metrobus to deploy resources in an efficient way to ensure that limited resources are allocated more effectively,” he said.
Some citizens took to social media platform X, expressing themselves following the announcement.
“enhance convenience and efficiency njani (how) when y’all took away so many buses on so many routes..? When a driver goes on leave, there’s no replacement/stand-in. We fill our bus tags only to be told to use alternative transport to and from work,” wrote Zamah Shamase.
Another X user, Chantel, wrote: “Where are the buses for this service to be activated? You have no buses. I am puzzled that you are implementing something that needs to be used in your buses but you have none.”
The Star