The Transport Board’s smart cards will come on stream on Wednesday.
The state-owned entity, in a press statement on Friday, revealed the Travel Smart cards will be available to the public for use in an effort to save commuters money, when bus fares rise to $3.50 on April 15th.
“We are pleased to introduce the Travel Smart cards as the first step in making public transport more affordable for Barbadians and bringing the Transport Board up to international standards of public transportation,” Acting General Manager Felicia Sue said.
Noting that the change was customer oriented, she continued, “The cards will be available for purchase at all Transport Board locations with other distribution channels coming on stream in the near future. The cards will be laminated to improve durability and will be sold in four denominations to allow the bearer options for trips in the amounts of ten, 14, 20 and 28.
This allows commuters to have approximately a 15 per cent discount and in some cases as high as four free trips per card depending on which card is purchased. For example, a commuter that purchases a 28 trip ticket would normally pay $98 for 28 trips, with the Travel Smart option you will pay $84, a savings of $14 or four free trips.”
Sue said the Transport Board would continue to be proactive in its approach to the recent announcement of the increase in bus fares and will continue to honour its commitment to students, pensioners and law enforcement officers. (BA/PR)
