A modern Smart Card System, which would allow commuters to board buses with the swipe of a card, will be introduced to public transport by the end of the year on Praslin on a pilot project basis.

Announcing the new project recently, Daniel Gappy, the managing director of the Seychelles Public Transport Corporation (SPTC), said the Smart Card System would allow SPTC to properly control its revenue collection and better utilise its fleet.  He said the system was line with the company’s new policy to better its service.

SPTC has invested R300,000 in the new service, and in the future the system will be introduced on Mahe.

Passengers need only insert the card into a machine when boarding the bus for payment, with loose cash no longer needed for transactions.

Commuters will be able to buy a Smart Card on a weekly and monthly basis, or even according to a specific sum. The card is rechargeable and passengers will have to visit the head office for the service.

Mr Gappy noted that the new system would benefit SPTC immensely, allowing the company to detect any irregular practices.  The automated system will register, on a daily basis, all data regarding commuters' tarrifs, the number and specification of passengers on any route, the frequency of travellers, operational statistics and revenue reports.

Mr Gappy said the information would come in handy for SPTC, helping the company to better manage its services in the future.

Some 2,500 Smart Cards are already available and companies, businesses and ministries are being invited to place adverts on them to help SPTC absorb the cost.

Since last week, a group of SPTC staff from Praslin were being trained to operate the Smart Card machines.

In line with its continued effort to better its service, SPTC, which has received a lot of complaints from commuters about overspeeding, also plans to introduce the Global Positioning System (GPS) on all its buses.

The company has already started a GPS research project on Praslin which will give important information on the location of buses and the speed at which they are travelling.

Following the research project, SPTC is to place GPS on all buses by mid-2004.

Meanwhile, SPTC is urging commuters to keep their tickets at all times when they are travelling on the bus.

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