Golden Arrow launches gold card

‘We hope to have the entire roll-out by the end of September.’ BRONWEN DYKE-BEYER Golden Arrow Bus Services

GOLDEN Arrow Bus Services (Gabs) has launched a R60 million electronic gold card system which phases out the automatic fare collection (AFC), and the old printed tickets for cash fares.

Gabs spokesperson Bronwen DykeBeyer said the company had rolled out the golden cards across more than 65% of its routes, which included major corridors such as Bellville to city, Mitchells Plain to city, Khayelitsha to city, Retreat to city, and all Atlantis and Simon’s Town services.

“We hope to have the entire rollout completed by the end of September,” said Dyke-Beyer

She said the previous system had served the company well for many years but was becoming increasingly cumbersome and outdated.

Gabs’ AFC system still allows for cash fare collection.

AFC provides Gabs with unobtainable operational information which will enable improved asset utilisation and efficiencies.

The company launched its gold card to reduce boarding times and the level of security offered by registering and storing value on a smart card, among other reasons.

The Gabs gold card is free during rollout and will cost R25 thereafter.

The system mimics the clip card system in that one loads multi-journey route-specific products onto the card.

Rides are deducted when boarding a bus and tapping on.

Golden Arrow’s routes form an open system (multiple intersecting routes and boarding points) and passengers will therefore not be expected to tap out. Uusers must be aware that when they tap, it will show only how many rides are on the product in use and not the total number on their card.