Korean Buses Roll Out ‘Tagless’ Bluetooth Fare Payments

By Tom Phillips

Gyeonggi-do Province Transportation Bureau in South Korea has officially launched a ‘tagless’ fare payment system that uses Bluetooth technology to detect a Bluetooth signal from a passenger’s smartphone when they board and alight from the vehicle and then automatically charges their pre- or post-paid transit card for their fare.

“A total of 1,760 buses travelling 212 routes throughout the province, will be equipped with the new fare payment technology. Double-decker and double-door buses were excluded from the scheme,” The Korea Herald reports.

The province began trialling the system in June 2021.