Fare cards to become mandatory on public buses

Starting on April 1, all public transportation buses will be removing their fare boxes and requiring that all passengers pay their bus fare using a pre-paid fare card.

Bus companies say they have been facing budget deficits because a large number of passengers are not paying in full for cash bus fares.

Some bus companies are rehiring ticket agents to insure that all passengers are properly paying their bus fares, but they say they have not seen better results and claim that passengers are still riding without paying full fare because ticket agents are not the ones collecting cash upon boarding buses.