Today: launched the payment widgets for public transportation via smartphone applications

The Ministry of Transportation will launch the payment widgets for public transportation that will be activated via smartphone applications from tomorrow (Tuesday). Customers will be able to download a widget (app) called "Station" to their mobile phone, scan a barcode at the beginning of each bus ride and mark their destination.
The ministry also says that during 2021 the application will also be active for the Israel Railways and the light rail in Jerusalem. In parallel with the "Station" widget, three more widgets will be launched by private franchisees, which will allow payment on public transportation: Mobit, Rav-Fes and ANY-WAY. The use of widgets eliminates the need for a multi-line card and payment is made according to actual use.
The cost of the trip using the widget will be calculated according to the actual travel distances performed according to the "ring method", which divides the country into 6 billing rings.
The customer will always be "in the center of the ring", so the distance he travels between the "billing rings" will form the basis for calculating the billing for the trip. This is in contrast to the fare method currently used, which calculates urban and interurban fare according to fixed and predefined geographical rings, regardless of the passenger's starting point.
 The issue of using payment apps on public transportation was launched about a year ago and was completed in 2020, with the intention of enabling innovative payment, disconnected from multi-line services, so that passengers can use a payment app that will weigh the optimal charge for them. The winners of the end-of-2019 tender were Mobit and Pango, Isracard, and Slopark Hop-on and Discount Bank. The Ministry of Transportation claimed at the time that the move to the new payment services would save the state about NIS 100 million.
The person who approved the use was Minister Bezalel Smutrich, but Transport Minister Regev delayed the move weeks after taking office on the grounds of invasion of privacy and with back-up times by the Ministry of Justice. Last September, the Ministry of Justice's privacy authority approved the use of widgets, but the move was not approved until Minister Regev reached an agreement with the Ministry of Finance on granting discounts to residents of the periphery, with a reduction of tens of percent in fares. As mentioned, the service has officially launched tomorrow.