Cheonan City Expands 'Cashless City Buses'... Card and Cash Accepted Until July

Expansion from 28 to 63 Vehicles Across 9 to 43 Routes

Cheonan City in Chungnam announced on the 25th that it will expand the operation of cashless city buses.

The city conducted a pilot operation of cashless city buses on 28 buses across 9 routes for five months from September last year to February this year.

This move comes as the overall cash boarding rate on city buses steadily decreased from 5.3% in 2020 to 3.8% in 2021, 3.2% in 2022, and 3% last year. During the pilot operation period, the cash boarding rate on the 28 buses across 9 routes dropped from 3% to 1.39%.

The routes to be expanded include public, feeder, late-night, and downtown circular express buses as well as urban transportation models: routes 5, 10, 30, 71, 114, 116, 117, 118, 132 (both directions), 135, 390, 391, 392, 405, 410, 411, 412, 413, 414, 420, 421, 430, 450, 451, 452, 453, 460, 461, 462, 463, 500, 520, 530, 532, 570, 600, 601, 650, 651, 652, 663, and 815. Accordingly, cashless city buses will expand from the existing 28 buses on 9 routes to 63 buses on 43 routes.

The city plans to provide cash boxes until July to allow both cash and card payments concurrently, after which the cash boxes will be completely removed.

A Cheonan city official said, “We will operate cash boxes concurrently for three months to guide citizens to adapt without inconvenience, continuously monitor complaints, and do our best to ensure stable operation.”