Celebrating 9 million EasyCards being sold since the the system was introduced for public transportation in Taipei in 2002, Taipei Smart Card Corp yesterday issued 900 limited edition EasyCards featuring Taiwanese tennis stars Chan Yung-jan (詹詠然) and Chuang Chia-jung (莊佳容).
After flying back to Taiwan to attend the celebration yesterday, the Taiwanese pair, who won a silver medal at the Australia Open, joined Taipei Mayor Hau Lung-bin (郝龍斌) and Taipei Smart Card Corp chairman Chen Yu-chang (陳裕璋) to promote the limited-edition cards.
The card, priced at NT$700, can be purchased at EasyCard Customer Services at Taipei Main Station. A total of NT$100,000 was raised from sales yesterday. All of the earnings from the sale of the cards will be given to Chan and Chuang to fund their future training.
PHOTO: LIN CHENG-KUN, TAIPEI TIMES
Lauding the cards for making Taipei residents' lives more convenient, Hau said the city government will work with the corporation to consider adopting the EasyCard ticketing system in more areas.
"We will turn EasyCard into the `electronic wallet' for the public, and look to allow customers to use the card not only when taking public transportation, but also for grocery shopping or other daily spending," Hau said when addressing the ceremony in Xinyi District's New Life Square.
Expecting the sales of EasyCards to pass the 10 million mark in the near future, Chen said Taipei Zoo and the Maokong Cable Car, which will start operations on June 30, would allow visitors to use the card to pay their entrance fees beginning in June.
"We will strive, with the support of the government, to expand the use of EasyCard to more areas," he added.
Ou Chih-der (歐晉德), general director of the Taiwan High Speed Rail Corp and former chairman of Taipei Smart Card Corp, also attended the ceremony to show his support for the adoption of the EasyCard ticketing system on the high speed rail.
Chen said the plan is very likely to be carried out within three years, and the company is in discussions with the Taiwan Railway Administration regarding the use of the EasyCard system on their network.
The ticketing system is also expected to be used on the public transportation systems in Keelung city and Taoyuan County soon, Hau said.
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