Smart card technology is to be utilised in taxis during the 2010 Soccer World Cup.
This morning, South African National Taxi Council (Santaco) secretary-general Phillip Taaibos said credit- or bank-card-like smart cards were to be used in an electronic management system (EMS) in taxis.
"It will be assisting the passenger, first of all, who can use taxis without carrying cash," said Taaibos. "Secondly, it will be assisting in road safety as the driver won't get into arguments with the passenger over fares, so we'll have less accidents on the roads."
Taaibos said a third advantage of the system would be that the taxi industry would become more regulated in that "taxi owners will know exactly how many passengers they are transporting on a daily basis".
At this stage, it is not known how much the Santaco-driven project will cost.
Taaibos added the initiative would be launched towards the end of July or beginning of August, at which point the council would provide more details on who would provide the technology needed.
2010 plans
He did, however, say cards would be purchased at a central point which would also be announced at the launch.
Santaco is holding a three-day annual general meeting in Rustenburg, North West, where its 2010 plans are expected to feature prominently on the agenda.
Transport department spokesman Collen Msibi earlier today said an EMS was initially to form part of the ongoing taxi recapitalisation programme, but this was still being investigated and discussed with the national treasury.
"Cabinet has, however, approved an integrated ticketing system for 2010," said Msibi, explaining this would see a single ticket being used across different modes of transport, such as bus, train and taxi.
"As part of this, we are looking at an electronic option, but so far there is no decision in terms of this."
In his annual budget speech to Parliament earlier this year, transport minister Jeff Radebe said the transport action plan, prepared with the 2010 soccer extravaganza in mind, set aside R9 billion over the medium-term expenditure framework. An additional R3 billion is to be pushed into transport development through provincial infrastructure grants and the expanded public works programme.
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