About 219,000 passengers preferred to pay by bank card or through the mobile phone when travelling by trolleybuses in the capital city since the pilot project was launched in March until October 14, according to the Chisinau Electric Transport Company. Felicia Rusu, spokeswoman for the Company, in a response for IPN said this is 1.88% of the travellers.

The pilot project to apply the electronic ticketing system in the municipal public transport system covered six trolleybuses routes. Mastercard/Maib has been used on routes No. 22, 23, 24 and 30, while Visa/VictoriaBank on routes No. 10 and 32.

“It should be noted that the implementation of the pilot project is an important stage in the process of implementing electronic payments in the public transport system in the municipality of Chisinau. Among the major advantages of the project are: modernization of the image of the municipal public transport; possibility of implementing a complex ticketing system; collection of data about type of trips; possibility of implementing the single ticket,” runs the response.

Interviewed by IPN, a number of commuters said they would like to pay electronically for public transport services, but do it usually in the traditional way as the system is not available in all the trolleybuses, even those involved in the project, and they never know in what way they can pay. If they prepare cash to pay the fare at the station, they do not change the payment method later. Other travellers said they do not want to use the bank cards in trolleybuses for safety reasons and would opt for electronic tickets or season tickets if there was such a possibility.

When the pilot project was launched, the municipal authorities said that in six months they will present the results and will take a decision as to the subsequent method of paying for public transport services. This hasn’t been yet done.