People who use electronic cards to pay for rides on the Taipei MRT metropolitan rail system got their first bonus yesterday under a new fare scheme that offers frequent travelers discounts of up to 30 percent.
A special tone sounded when they swiped their cards at an MRT gate yesterday, signaling that they had qualified for a reward based on the number of rides they took last month, Taipei Rapid Transit Corp (TRTC) said.
Under the new program, those who take MRT trains 51 times or more in a month receive a 30 percent discount on their total fare for that month, TRTC said.
Photo: CNA
Those who take MRT trains 41 to 50 times per month are eligible for a 25 percent discount, while there are discounts of 20 percent for those who take 31 to 40 trips per month, 15 percent for 21 to 30 trips, and 10 percent for 11 to 20 trips, it said.
The discounts apply to EasyCard, iPass, icash, and HappyCash cards, the company said.
Taipei MRT passengers who paid for rides using the cards received a universal 20 percent discount through the end of last month, but that discount was eliminated starting yesterday in favor of the new fare system.
Despite maintaining the standard 20 percent discount last month, passengers received the frequent ridership discount for the month yesterday as a bonus, the company said.
The reward is deposited directly onto the smart card, it said.
The new system would also enable people who use electronic cards to check a record of all the journeys made in the month using the ticket machines or kiosks near information counters or on gate screens, the company said.
Meanwhile, the discount for people transferring from the metro system to a bus or vice versa within one hour remains in place, as do the discount fares for senior citizens, children and people with all-pass tickets.
The one-month all-pass ticket priced at NT$1,280, which provides unlimited rides on MRT trains, buses and YouBikes in Taipei and New Taipei City, is also still available.
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