Citylink buses accept payment through beep card system

AF Payments Inc. has announced that Citylink buses traversing the Newport City-Eastwood City route are now accepting payments through the beep card system. (Photo: beep card/Facebook)

MANILA—AF Payments Inc. has announced that Citylink buses traversing the Newport City-Eastwood City route are now accepting payments through the beep card system.

The company said this is the first distanced-based implementation of the smartcard system in public buses applying the tap in, tap out scheme.

“We have added another reason for Filipinos to own and enjoy their beep card. Citylink is the first bus company to have an automated fare collection system that computes for distance-based fare. We’ll be implementing this scheme in most of our upcoming bus partnerships,” Tere Ancheta, spokesperson for AF Payments Inc. said in a statement.

To pay for their rides, passengers should tap their beep card upon boarding the bus and before alighting for the card reader to compute the correct fare.

The minimum required load for beep card users is PHP 39.

The buses are equipped with global positioning system (GPS) to determine the precise station a passenger gets in and alights. Citylink’s C5 route buses operate from Mondays to Saturdays, with the earliest bus leaving at 6a.m.and carries about 1,500 passengers on weekdays.

“We are very excited to roll out this new system to our Citylink buses. With this breakthrough innovation, we hope to serve more people going to and from our townships,” says Arnie Batac, head of estate management, Megaworld, the company that operates Citylink in its various township developments in Metro Manila

Megaworld head of estate management Arnie Batac expects that the rollout of the beep card system in Citylink buses will serve more commuters across Metro Manila.

Megaworld is the company that operates Citylink in its various township developments in Metro Manila.

AF Payments believes that consumers who regularly ride the LRT and MRT as well as point to point buses will eventually welcome the establishment of an integrated and seamless payment in the country.

The beep card may be purchased at any LRT or MRT station or select partner establishments. It is reloadable and is valid for four years. Reloading is now available at FamilyMart outlets and also at branches of Bayad Center, SM Bills Payment, Villarica, and Tambunting.