Public Utility Transport: The Potential of Automating Fare Payment Collection in the Philippines using Smart Card

Abstract

Technological innovations in bus rail transit is worth adopting as it promotes efficiency in public utility transactions. Fare payment collection has been one of the dominating modernization that is considered an exogenous parameter in optimizing the bus services in foreign countries. In the Philippines, however, public transport in most of the urban areas do the customary fare payment collection with conductors issuing the ticket. These buses and jeepneys are utilized to account people's everyday work and living. This study aims to explore the potential of automating the fare payment collection in public utility transport to improve the Philippine's payment collection and the unbiased request to avail of 20% discount for students, senior citizens and Person With Disabilities (PWD) when boarding. A purposive sampling was used and 230 people participated in the study using a pre-tested questionnaire. Study in the Philippines revealed that with greater demand to use public transportation, majority of the commuters demands for higher speed on fare payment collection and convenience when riding in a public utility transport (M:4.60), surprisingly, among the situations that is alarming on the part of driver is the possibility of not paying the fare of a passenger especially when no collector is assigned and the driver is unable to monitor the paid passengers(M:4.55). By adopting existing smart card fare payment frameworks, the use of smart card may result to a highly sustainable fare payment system in the Philippines that can help promote a more convenient, efficient, standardized fare payment collection, gratified and appeased passenger experience within the region and positive realization of a cost-effective way of transportation.