Findings from an IMARC Group study reveal that the demand of smart cards in the automatic fare collection system in India is expected to grow exponentially in the next five years.
The report suggests that the large scale use of smart cards in the transportation system began with the Delhi Metro with more than 60% of its total passengers using these cards in 2010. IMARC adds that passengers using smart cards can avoid long queues to buy tickets, or tokens and receive special offers and discounts. For instance, users of smart cards in the Delhi Metro get a 10% discount on every journey.
Entitled “Indian Smart Cards Market Report & Forecast 2011-2015,” the report finds that smart cards are already available in the Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport and Navi Mumbai Municipal Transport bus services in Mumbai, and will soon be launched across other major cities in India.
The anticipated demand of smart cards is to be driven further by a number of other existing and new metro projects including Kolkata metro, Bangalore Metro, Mumbai Metro, Hyderabad Metro, Chennai Metro; among others. The Indian railways, too, create an opportunity for these cards in the coming years, as they are continuously being extended to metro and suburban sections of the country.
Projections from the report which were based on extensive primary and secondary research expects the total demand of smart cards in the automatic fare collection system to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 30% during 2011-2016. ![[end]](/resources/bullet/contactlessnews-4.gif)
