The city of Busan is introducing a "tagless" system that automatically processes transit fares without requiring passengers to tap their transportation cards.
Busan Metropolitan City announced Sunday that it will launch a pilot "tagless public transit payment system" starting Thursday, centered on the Haeundae and Gijang areas.
The tagless payment system automatically detects boarding and alighting on buses and urban rail without passengers physically tapping their transit cards on readers. Passengers simply board while carrying a smartphone app or a registered transit card, and payment is processed without any additional action.
The pilot program focuses on the Haeundae and Gijang areas, which attract large numbers of tourists and floating population. A total of 360 buses from six operators — including Buil, Busan, Seik, Ilgwang and Haedong — as well as Osiria demand-responsive transit (DRT) buses will participate. For urban rail, the system will be applied to select gates at Haeundae Station and Jangsan Station.
A notable feature of the project is that Mybi, the transit card settlement company, is covering the full cost without any expenditure from the city's budget.
Through the pilot, the city plans to not only improve boarding and alighting convenience but also achieve more precise transportation data collection and validate contactless payment technology.
To use the system, passengers need to install the Android-based "TaglessPay" app and register a prepaid or postpaid transit card. However, on vehicles or at stations where the system has not been installed, passengers must continue tapping their cards as before.
The city plans to operate a citizen experience group to analyze user satisfaction and operational performance, then expand the system to all city buses, village buses and urban rail stations by 2028.
"Tagless payment is an important turning point in reducing everyday inconveniences for citizens," a city official said. "Through the pilot program, we will verify convenience and speed to deliver more advanced transportation services."
