AF Payments Inc., provider of contactless electronic payment system beep cards, introduced on Thursday a service that will allow passengers to purchase bus tickets ahead of their preferred travel date.
The consortium of Metro Pacific Investments Corp. and Ayala Corp. said the Advance Booking System will initially be implemented by Davao Metro Shuttle (DMS) in its Metro Manila-Davao route, the longest bus route to date, starting January 27.
Passengers can purchase and rebook tickets ahead at the Parañaque Integrated Terminal Exchange (PITX) Terminal using their beep card or thru their advance booking hotline: Davao-PITX (0939-1351349) or PITX-Davao (0981-3313389).
“With our new Advance Booking System feature, AF Payments Inc. is expanding the roster of solutions to continuously support the business needs of our partner transport operators nationwide.
We work on these innovations in fulfillment of our shared end goal of improving the commuting experience of the riding public. This 2023, we hope to be able to bring our technology to more routes by doubling our efforts at reaching out to interested partners,” said Sharon Fong, Chief Commercial Officer of AF Payments Inc.
AF Payments said it is looking to expand the adoption of its payment solutions among buses and jeepneys in more provinces this year. It targets to partner with transport operators completing their compliance with the government’s PUV (public utility vehicles) modernization program.
At present, the stored value beep card used in transportation and select retail establishments can be bought online on Shopee, Lazada, and Facebook Marketplace. It is available for use in LRT-1, LRT-2, MRT, EDSA buses, P2P buses, and select PUVs, tollways, and retail partners. The card is reloadable and valid for four years.
DMS, which has been a beep partner since November 2019, operates inter-provincial buses that implement an automated fare collection system (AFCS). These are Davao City-Arakan; Davao City-Kidapawan; Davao City-Butuan City; C.P. Garcia-Roxas; Catalunan-Roxas; Ormoc City-Sogod; and Tacloban City-Calbayog City. Its latest route—PITX-Ecoland Terminal in Davao City—was launched in June 2022.
Apart from DMS, Annil Transport Service Inc., operating a Davao City-Calinan route, has also been an AFCS partner since February 2020. It features modern low-floor city buses equipped with closed-circuit television cameras, LCD TVs, leather seats, Wi-Fi, and global positioning system.
Image credits: Nonie Reyes
