New validators for Tartu’s buses
Tartu City Government Press Release
18 June / As of 1 July 2019, the new buses that will begin travelling along Tartu’s urban lines will have new validators, requiring riders to pay greater attention and slightly adjust their current habits. Riders must continue to register all of their trips at validators, although a new feature allows a contactless bank card to be used to purchase one-hour tickets. In order to avoid unwanted payments, the bus card as well as the contactless bank card must be removed from the wallet or purse and used separately.
A contactless bank card can only be used to purchase a one-hour ticket from the validator, discount tickets cannot be purchased. If three or more one-hour tickets are purchased during a day, the one-hour ticket will be replaced with a one-day ticket. In order to use a contactless card, the contactless payment option must first be activated in the Internet Bank. The contactless payment card must be removed from your wallet and placed perpendicular (not more than a couple of centimetres) to the area on the validator marked with the contactless payment logo. The activation of green lights and one long sound means that the ticket was successfully purchased. The activation of red lights and two short sounds indicates that the attempt to purchase the ticket was unsuccessful. If contactless payments are enabled, the card has sufficient funds and it is used correctly, but the purchasing of the ticket is unsuccessful, you can contact the information and assistance number 1789 (twenty-four hours a day, select number 2).
After you have successfully purchased your ticket, you can wave your bank card in front of the validator and confirm that a ticket has been purchased. If you would like to purchase multiple tickets, then, similar to using the bus card, once you have successfully used the card you will need to push on the validator’s arrow key and select the additional number of tickets and, to confirm your purchase, push the OK key and once again show your bank card to the validator.
Information about your trips can be found online at https://tartu.pilet.ee on the basis of your bank card number. If the transport ticket was purchased using a contactless bank card, you will need to present the bank card that was waved at the validator to the controller.
As of 1 July, a new feature will allow people to use QR tickets. A QR ticket is an electronic transportation ticket along with a square barcode (QR code), with the aid of which it is possible to register a ticket on the bus at the validator. To register a QR ticket, one must place the QR code displayed on the screen of their smart device or printed on a piece of paper next to the screen of the validator’s code reader. A maximum of 10 one-hour tickets can be purchased with a single QR ticket, with the desired number needing to be selected at the time of purchase. With a QR ticket it is possible to pay for the trips of multiple co-travellers at the same time, using the arrows to select the corresponding number of tickets from the validator and confirming the purchase by registering the QR code.
If a bus card, student card or other contactless cards are used to confirm the right to travel on buses, all trips must continue to be registered at the validator. The card must be placed close to the validator, and one must make sure that the ticket was successfully registered. The activation of green lights and one long sound means that the trip was successfully registered. The activation of red lights and two short sounds indicates that the attempt to register the trip was unsuccessful.
As of 1 July, on Tartu’s urban lines the current single-ticket will become a one-hour ticket, with the price falling from 96 cents to 83 cents. The reason for eliminating the single-ticket is the need to transfer more often within the city's new route network, meaning that multiple trips can be made with a single ticket within the space of an hour. The one-hour ticket will begin to cost as much as the current single-ticket – a full price one-hour ticket is 83 cents, with a one-hour discount student ticket costing 51 cents. A single-ticket purchased from the bus driver, which currently costs EUR 1.50, will be replaced with a one-hour ticket costing EUR 2. The reason for the price increase is to reduce the bus driver's workload and to shorten pauses at stops. All other ticket prices will remain the same.
As of 1 July 2019, the City of Tartu will be switching over to a new bus route network, which differs significantly from the current network in terms of itineraries, the number of lines, as well as the frequency of departures. A total of 13 bus lines will begin to travel along the route, along with two night lines. New gas buses will begin serving the routes, with AS GoBus providing service on the route network. Additional information: https://www.tartu.ee/buss
Additional information: Kairi Kuusik, Quality Manager for Public Transportation in the City of Tartu 736 1199, [email protected].
Last changed 19.06.2019
