Beijing Subway IC Payment System to Charge by Distance

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Thursday, December 20, 2001

Beijing Subway IC Payment System to Charge by Distance

Beijing subway

To Charge by Distance

Subways in the Chinese capital of Beijing will introduce intelligent cards (IC cards) and automatic ticket-checking systems in the near future in a bid to increase speed and convenience for passengers, a government official said on Thursday.

The IC cards will replace the current three-yuan (3.6 US cents) train ticket, which provides access to all of Beijing's 39 subway stops, the official said, noting that the new automatic fee system will charge passengers according to the distance they travel.

The current monthly tickets, which serve as tickets for a month at preferential prices, will be no longer be valid once the new system is in place, he added.

Beijing has two interconnecting subway lines, a loop line that encircles the old city and another line that runs east-west past Tian'anmen Square.

Beijing Subway

Meanwhile, the official also revealed that an above-ground light-rail line serving the city's northern districts will be finished by the end of next year. It will also use the IC card system.

IC cards have been used regularly in Shanghai and Guangzhou in subways, taxis and buses.

To extend operation times

Besides changing the payment system, Beijing transportation authorities were also planning to extend the subway's operation times in the near future, the official said. will

The government made the decision to keep the subways running longer after conducting a survey of 5,000 passengers.

IC Cards in China

China's transaction card industry began with the standard debit bankcard, but then spread to other industries which have turned to electronic forms of payment, including the telecommunications and transportation industries. Most bankcards are the conventional magnetic strip cards, but the cards used by other industries such as telecommunications and transportation are smartcards. Other entities which have started to issue and use cards include tax collection agencies, highway, bus and subway fare systems, the insurance industry, hospitals, the Public Security Bureau and the Industrial and Commercial Administration.

Transportation

In this industry, smartcards are mainly used in driver management and in the collection of taxi, bus, and subway fares and highway, and bridge tolls. The chips of smartcards for transportation industry are mostly imported from Atmel, Motorola, Siemens, and Philip.

The Chinese central government still does not have any regulation mandating the use of electronic payment systems for highways, expressways, and bridges, but because many are invested by private companies or shareholders, there is more interest in using the efficient smartcards for collection.

Guangdong Province is working on an automatic charge system for highway and bridge collection. Guangdong Lulutong Co. Ltd., established in July of 1996, has started to install electronic toll collection systems in expressways, where drivers can pay with a contactless smartcard. There are currently 12 expressways in Guangdong. It is estimated that there are more than one million smartcards for highway and expressway collection. In Shenzhen, buses started to use Smartcard collection in 1996. In December of 1996, Guangzhou Zhujiang Tunnel tested contactless smartcard collection, and in 1998, three bridges in Guangzhou, the Jiangwan Bridge, Jiefang Bridge, and the Hedong Bridge also carried out the same test.

On the enforcement side, the Public Security Ministry has started to implement a plan called the People's Republic of China Smartcard for fine of 96 Type of Vehicle Drivers against Traffic Standard'.

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