Public transportation Paying for tickets to be made easier
Bonn · The public works department responsible for transportation (SWB) wants to modernize vending machines, making it easier for passengers to pay. Parking meters are also being addressed.
“Schwarzfahren” (riding black) is the German word used to describe a passenger riding on public transportation without a valid ticket. This seemed to be the only alternative for two tourists from Munich who climbed on board a Bonn tram last week. They wanted to purchase a day ticket but didn’t have the correct small change. It was only possible for them to buy their ticket at the Bonn central train station, after having already taken a ride on the tram. They found the situation incomprehensible, “If you don’t know that (you need to have coins), you stand there looking stupid.” Why don’t the machines take any bills at all?
"Our vending machines were purchased and installed between 1999 and 2002. At that time there was only the possibility of paying with coins and with a loaded cash card ", explains Veronika John from the press office of the Stadtwerke Bonn (SWB). Currently, one cannot even pay with a normal EC card or credit card. The "Geldkarte" (cash card) does work but it is used only by a small minority of people in Germany.
Mobile phone ticket
For those who want to avoid having to pay on site entirely, the mobile phone ticket is an alternative, says Holger Klein, spokesperson at the Verkehrsverbund Rhein-Sieg (VRS). “Of course we would welcome that it be made as easy as possible for our customers.” But in this case, it is up to the SWB because the railways are their property. SWB spokesperson Veronika John says the Stadtwerke wants to modernize the vending machines in the coming years. Then customers will be able to pay with cash or with an EC card.
Parking meters don’t give out change
One problem with parking meters is that they don’t give out change. But Stefanie Zießnitz of the city press office says that devices for changing money are as expensive as the entire parking ticket machine. Getting a power supply to a money changing machine is also an issue. They require an amount of electricity which cannot be generated by the small amount of solar power that operates the current parking ticket machines.
Zießnitz said that some years ago they had tried out an EC card and cash card payment function but frequent cases of vandalism made this impractical. A project group called “Digital Bonn” is already planning the introduction of various payment options via mobile phone, (App, text or call) and other customer-friendly functions such as a reminder shortly before the time on the meter has expired. This would still need to be coordinated with the political authorities responsible.
