The Project's Need
Solhan is a district where passenger density varies sharply by time of day. As the municipality brought its city bus route into service, it wanted a clear structure from the outset on three fronts:
Cash revenue that could not be traced. On a route running on cash or paper tickets, nothing remains at the end of the day except the money in hand; how many passengers boarded at which hour, which trips ran full and which ran empty, cannot be measured. When the municipality subsidises the route, it cannot show on what basis it does so.
The load piling up on the driver. In a cash system the driver simultaneously drives the vehicle, takes money, gives change, and decides on their own judgement who is entitled to a discounted or free ride. This produces both unnecessary waiting at stops and disputes with passengers.
Social entitlements left off the record. Keeping a written list for students, the elderly and citizens granted free travel by the municipality required the driver to verify it on every boarding - which is not workable in practice.
Why an akbil system was chosen
What sets Solhan apart from our other projects is this: the fleet was new, and the system was installed as card-based from the route's very first day. In municipalities that switch from cash to cards later, the hardest part is the change of habit - passengers who have boarded with loose change for years resist the move to cards. In Solhan no such history had formed, so citizens knew the route as a "card route" from the start; the adaptation period was almost non-existent. This is the most efficient of all installation scenarios, and it is what we recommend to municipalities opening a new route.
The general structure of the system
The installation consists of three layers, and no layer can override the decision of another:
- Vehicle layer: A Sole validator facing the door was mounted on every bus. When a card is tapped, the amount is not calculated on the device but according to the tariff defined for the card type; the result is announced to the passenger on screen and by voice.
- Top-up layer: Balance loading is done from a single point designated by the municipality. Every top-up is documented with a printed receipt, and money never changes hands inside the vehicle.
- Central layer: Passages are relayed to the central software; card type, tariff and free-travel entitlement are defined here. Even if vehicles lose connectivity they accept the passage and relay it once the connection returns.
Every transaction being traceable
The most concrete gain for the municipality is that every boarding is recorded individually. Which card, on which vehicle, at what time, under which tariff - all of it is queryable. If a card is lost its balance can be frozen and transferred to a new card; passages made with the lost card are also visible. Because the municipality can now see the route's real passenger load by departure time, it plans its timetable according to what the data shows.
The benefit delivered
- Revenue recorded from day one. Daily, weekly and monthly route revenue is reported without any manual counting.
- The driver only drives. Taking money, giving change and judging discount entitlement have been removed entirely; waiting time at stops has shortened.
- Social entitlements defined on the card. Because free and discounted travel rights are held in the system, entitled passengers board without dispute and the cost of that entitlement to the municipality can be reported.
- Cash out of the vehicle. Since money only changes hands at the top-up point, the risk of loss or shortfall has largely disappeared.
- Tariff changes from a single point. Fare updates are made centrally, without touching vehicles one by one.
Carrying the card beyond transport
The card issued by Solhan Municipality is not a bus ticket but a municipal card assigned to the citizen. The same card can later be used at a sports facility entrance, a cultural centre, a public canteen or a library; each is defined as a separate service in the system and reported separately. Every point at which the municipality meets the citizen is thus tied to a single identity - this is the essence of the city card concept.
Card designs
Three separate card types were designed for Solhan Municipality. The front carries the municipal logo and a panorama of Solhan; the back carries the top-up point, contact details and terms of use.
