Rapid Pass – one card for all transport – about to get real

Infographics: TBS

Carrying around half-a-dozen or so cards in your purse or wallet and fumbling to find the right one to make a payment will soon be over. A card is coming soon that will take care of most of your payment needs.

People of Dhaka will enjoy the convenience of a unified payment solution, as they will be able to settle various bills and fees, ranging from utilities, road and bridge tolls to supermarket purchases and student tuition, all using a single card.

This versatile card, known as the "Rapid Pass", can also be used to make payments for a number of government services and it can be easily topped up via debit and credit cards, as well as mobile financial services (MFS) accounts.

Planning to introduce an all-encompassing smart ticketing system within the nation's public transportation network, the government is making efforts to expand the utilisation of the Rapid Pass – a smart card that was initially introduced in the capital city five years ago in a limited capacity.

A decision has been made to transform the Rapid Pass into an all-inclusive smart card in a meeting of the road transport and highways secretary and transport related high officials of the government. With this pass, passengers can seamlessly pay fares for all modes of available transport services, including Mass Rapid Transit (MRT), Bus Rapid Transit (BRT), BRTC buses, both public and private buses, water transport, and trains throughout the country.

Rapid Pass is a smart card automated fare payment system, currently in use by some Metro rail passengers in Dhaka. Starting this October, the Rapid Pass will be launched on Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) and BRTC bus services.

Amin Ullah Nuri, secretary of the Road Transport and Highways Division, told TBS that the Rapid Pass has been piloted in Metrorail and BRT. Now it will be introduced in Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Corporation (BIWTC), railways, and other sectors. 

The main objective of launching the "One Card For All Transport or Rapid Pass" is to enable cashless transactions which will save people's time. It will also ensure hassle-free travel and increase the government's revenue collection by ensuring transparency and discipline in public transport, Amin Ullah Nuri told The Business Standard.

"Instructions have been given to all transport organisations. Besides, the private transport sector will also be included in it. Discussions are being held," he said.

The Dhaka Transport Coordination Authority (DTCA) will coordinate these activities. The Rapid Pass card will be available for just Tk400 by registering with the holder's name and mobile number in certain branches of Dutch Bangla Bank, the clearing bank of DTCA. Till July this year, some 66,180 people in Dhaka got the card. Every month the number of cardholders is increasing at the rate of 20%.

According to the road transport ministry, this automated system will ensure a transparent fare collection, and create Origination-Destination (OD) data which can be used for realistic strategic Urban Transport planning.

A senior official of the Road Transport and Highways Division, wishing not to be named, told TBS that the government thinks that one of the components of Smart Bangladesh is the Smart Transport System. That is why the second meeting of the Executive Committee regarding the Smart Bangladesh Task Force has decided to introduce such a card system.

Officials concerned said the initiative to launch the Rapid Pass has been going on for a few years. For this purpose, Transport Clearing House was established under a project run by the DTCA. The aim of the project is to introduce Automatic Fare Collection System and Fare Collection System Integration. Under this project, fare collection and settlement have been done through Rapid Pass on a trial basis in BRTC, HR Transport, Dhaka Chaka, and Omama bus services.

Implementation of the second phase of this project, titled "Establishment of Clearing House for Integrating Ticketing System in Dhaka City and Adjacent Districts", is currently being done by the DTCA. The project is scheduled to be completed by June next year. The cost of the second phase is around Tk83 crores. Of the amount, the government is providing Tk54 crore for infrastructure and network and Jaica is providing Tk29 crore which will be used as consulting fee. 

Meanwhile, the integration of Metrorail Line 6 as the first Public Transport Operator (PTO) with the Clearing House system has been completed. Metrorail Line-6 fare collection and settlement is being done through Rapid Pass.

Clearing House (Phase-2) project Director Mamunur Rahman told TBS that the clearing house has been established in the first phase of this project. Dutch Bangla Bank has been appointed as the clearing bank. The second phase is underway.

Where to get the Rapid Pass

For now, customers can collect this card from Dutch Bangla Bank branches and the DTCA office. The project director said that efforts are being made to issue this card from all banks including state-owned banks so that the public can easily collect these cards.

How to use the card 

There will be a system to touch or tap this card at the counters of buses, trains and launches. The transports will have special devices, where passengers can pay their fares and collect the receipt by specifying the destination. 

The card must be used both for getting on and getting off  the transport. Otherwise, the card cannot be used on the next journey. 

The fare amount will automatically be deducted from the card and will be deposited in the clearing house. From there, at the end of the week, the amount of money collected through any transport will be calculated and given to the owner or authority of the respective transport, said Projet Director Mamunur Rahman.

What else will be done under the project? 

A maximum of 1,000 bus validators, a device for the card, will be arranged for bus services in the clearing house. The tentative cost of the devices will be a maximum of $1300. Rent settlement and distribution will be done through this clearing house. That is why public transport operators (Bangladesh Railway, RDH, BRTC, BBA, and DMP) need to integrate with the clearing house system.

The road transport and highways division thinks that if the metro rail service from Uttara to Kamalapur is launched by next December, some 4.83 lakh people will travel by this modern transport every day. Last June, an average of 77,000 people travelled on the Metrorail every day.