Student public transportation IC cards, which were sold out in the middle of May, are now available again in Beijing. Students can purchase the "all-in-one" card at various outlets throughout the city with only the presentation of their student enrolment card.

 

 

On May 10 of 2006, the first day the new cards are issued, a girl swipes her IC public transportation card on a Beijing bus ticketing machine.

 

Since the reform of the public transportation ticketing system on May 10 last year, more than 2.3 million student IC cards have been issued by the Beijing Transit Group, furthermore an additional 900,000 new types of student cards have been jointly released by the Beijing Yikatong, or One-Card-through Company and the Municipal Education Commission. That means the total number of student IC cards available for circulation is around 3.2 million, more than two-times the number of students in Beijing.

 

Despite the card vs. student discrepancy, the running out of student IC cards last month, can largely be attributed to the frequent loss and scalping of cards. In response, the Beijing Transit Group has released another 200,000 cards to fill the gap.

 

Sources with the Transit Group reveal that new batches of student IC cards have been distributed to card outlets throughout the city. Measures will also soon be implemented to prevent non-students from using the cards. For example, Beijing's 900,000 elementary and middle school students have to purchase their student IC cards with their student enrolment card. For other student card users, the validity period for the card will be shortened from the previous four to five years, down to only one year. It' s hoped this will prevent card scalping and fraud. Furthermore, student IC cards will henceforth need to be activated on a yearly basis.

 

(CRI June 4, 2007)