Bus pass

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

A bus pass is used to ride a public transit bus. It may cost money or be free.

Bus pass systems may be arranged in several ways. Visual recognition bus passes are typically printed paper or plastic, and must be shown to the driver or conductor upon boarding a bus. Electronic swipe-cards must be swiped through a card reader either on the bus or on accessing the bus boarding platform. Electronic proximity cards are like swipe-cards, but instead of needing to be swiped, need only pass nearby a card reader.

Bus passes may be valid on a daily, monthly, seasonal or annual basis. In some countries, veterans or other groups of citizens may be entitled to a free bus pass, but most bus passes are sold. Pass pricing is often political and controversial; typically, a standard pass will be priced slightly lower than a daily roundtrip. However, many public transit systems have variable pricing for passes, depending on the status of the pass user (students, children, senior citizens and veterans are in many places allowed to purchase passes at reduced prices) and on the access granted by the pass (in some cities, a regular bus pass does not give access to express routes, or allow transfers to other modes of transit; higher priced "express" bus passes or multi-mode passes may then be sold). Bus pass prices may also be set higher or lower depending on the willingness of civic authorities to encourage or discourage public transit use.