The e-card reading devices on Mass Rapid Transit systems and buses across Taiwan could be integrated as early as the end of the year, allowing passengers to travel throughout the country with only one card, the Ministry of Transportation and Communications said yesterday.
The ministry plans to offer subsidies of NT$550 million (US$17.3 million) to Taiwan’s public transportation service operators to promote the installation of integrated e-card readers, officials said.
The ministry will subsidize 30 percent to 49 percent of the cost of the devices, depending on the number of systems that the e-card readers recognize and the time it takes bus companies to complete installation.
For instance, if a bus company takes three months to complete installation of an e-card reader that can read four different kinds of cards, it will receive a subsidy of 49 percent of the cost. If it takes nine months to install readers that only recognize three kinds of cards, the company will receive a subsidy of 30 percent.
A total of 22 million electronic cards have been issued around the country, including 18 million EasyCards in Taipei, 1.3 million Smart Cards in central Taiwan, and 1 million prepaid cards each for Kaohsiung’s MRT and freeway.
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