The Ministry of Transport is unable to cope with the use of card system for buses

The Ministry of Transport has not fulfilled the obligation to  pass to the card fare collection system on buses in Baku by the end of May this year. Now we hear statements about the beginning of the first stage of the process in the middle of next month.

In an interview to a TV channel, Namig Hasanov, a representative of  Public Relations  Department of the  Ministry of Transport said that  at the first stage it is  planned to introduce a new payment system for 29 intercity routes, where more than 500 buses  operate. The representative of the Ministry of Transportation did not respond to questions about the timing of the payment cards of the passengers, and which specific routes are in question. There are 217 bus routes in Baku, which employs over 2500 buses. Earlier, the Minister of Transport, Ziya Mammadov, said that the process on complete transition to the card system in Baku will take two years. Introduction of the intelligent transport management in Baku provided for the introduction of payment cards on public transport in February 2011.

Bus drivers say that the application of payment cards is artificially prolonged:  they should order the  payment cards  in advance. The companies operating bus routes are not interested in  the transition to the card system, because the  companies have to pay the drivers a wage. The drivers say that it is not known what salary transport companies will pay them. --08B--