KOCHI: The Kochi1 Metro smart cardholders can use their cards on private buses plying in the city from Saturday. With this, the Kochi Metro Rail Ltd (KMRL) will inch a step closer to its plan of introducing metro cards across multiple transport modes in the city. At present, the Kochi1 cards are allowed only in Kochi metro. From Saturday, they can use the card to travel in 50 private buses, which are selected for the pilot phase of the implementation of the project.
The card system will be introduced in a total of 987 buses belonging to the seven private bus companies that have signed an agreement with KMRL. These companies are Perfect Bus Metro Services, Kochi Metropolitan Transport Co-operative Society Ltd, My Metro, Muziris, Prateeksha Transport Operators Organisation Pvt Ltd, Kochi Wheelz United and Greater Cochin Bus Transport.All the buses will be equipped with the system in two months. The Kochi1 card is co-owned by Axis Bank.
“The Kochi1 card is now just enhanced with the extension of services to buses. This will ultimately lead to a single card being utilised to provide a seamless interface between various modes of transport. It will also lead to better usage of the cards by passengers - to travel in the metro and feeder buses,” said KMRL managing director A P M Mohammed Haneesh.
The system will soon be introduced in feeder auto rickshaws of Kochi Metro. The installation of GPS on the private buses to link them with the Kochi1 card is almost complete, metro authorities said. The passenger can tap their card on the machine provided by the bus conductors instead of buying tickets to travel in buses linked with Kochi1 card.So far, the KMRL has sold more than 26,000 Kochi1 cards. The Kochi1 card is available at metro stations and the passengers can top up the card by cash, debit or credit card of any bank.