e-Transport experience

Spencer Robinson, Suva

A few days ago I boarded a bus to the capital city and this was something historical for me as it was the first time to use the e-Transport card.

Some of my colleagues indicated that the machine could not recognise their e-Transport card and so I was reluctant to board the bus this particular evening because of my negative impression that my eTransport card would not work.

This system of bus travelling is absolutely new.

Hence, I made sure that I was the last passenger to board the bus so that I could strategically observe how the other passengers used their e-Transport cards on the POS machine.

Thank God everything went well for me!

I was surprised at the fact that most passengers that boarded the bus along the way did not have any knowledge of how they had to tap their e-Transport card against the POS machine.

For instance, some passengers were actually tapping their eTransport cards against the screen of the POS.

Moreover, a passenger who incorrectly tapped her e-Transport card on multiple attempts actually disembarked from the bus because she was probably embarrassed. For those of you who are still "madua" to use the eTransport card please visit the following site for simple and clear instruction - https://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=ukWvSOsZCAo

All in all, these are some of the psychological experiences we would encounter towards a new system that is implemented. Think of it as learning how to ride a bike for the first time. To master the procedure it takes practice and so over time we will get acclimatized to this innovative way of travelling. Happy travelling everyone.