Yikatong
| Location |
Beijing,  China
|
|---|---|
| Launched | 2003 |
| Technology | |
| Currency | CNY¥ |
| Validity |
|
| Website | www.bmac.com.cn/ |
The Beijing Municipal Administration Traffic Card (Chinese: 北京市政交通一卡通; pinyin: Běijīng Shìzhèng jiāotōng Yīkǎtōng), more commonly known as the Yikatong (literally One-card pass), is a store-value contactless smart card used in Beijing, China, for public transportation and related uses. It is similar to Hong Kong's Octopus card, Singapore's CEPAS, or the Oyster Card used by Transport for London in London, England.
Yikatong was introduced at the end of 2003 on Beijing subway Line 13 and certain bus routes after smart card pilot projects proved successful. Yikatong initially was not widely adopted by commuters due to its limited usefulness, relatively high deposit and limited availability. Beginning on May 10, 2006, Beijing's entire subway system and all Beijing buses began to accept the card, which replaced the traditional paper monthly passes. At the same time, many more commercial outlets permitted users to purchase and recharge their cards. While some commuters initially complained about long queues at bus stops, the system has now been adopted by many Beijing commuters. On May 16, 2006, 4,471,800 transactions were made using Yikatong.
The system was introduced on some taxis in 2006, and all Beijing taxis were required to accept Yikatong payment from the beginning of August 2008. The system is expected to be further expanded for payments of parking fees and expressway tolls.
By the end of 2011, 41.76 million Yikatong cards had been issued.
The card can be bought against a deposit of CNY 20, and can be bought at most ticket counters at Beijing Subway stations and some bus stations. The cards can be refilled in units of CNY 10 at these counters, and by units of CNY 20, 50, or 100 in Beijing Subway ticket machines. The deposit is used to cover non-sufficient funds for a single trip, and can be refunded when the card is returned. After the last use of the card, it will remain its value for three years, until the month before the one travelled in.
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Wikipedia