Gwangju cashless bus system faces accessibility challenges

One year after Gwangju implemented a cashless city bus system, challenges regarding accessibility for the elderly and digitally vulnerable remain. While the policy has successfully reduced annual maintenance and management costs by approximately 500 million won, the current alternative for passengers without transit cards or smartphones is cumbersome.

Passengers attempting to pay without digital means must manually write their names and phone numbers on a slip of paper to facilitate a bank transfer. This process requires passengers to navigate moving vehicles while recording personal information and verifying account details, creating physical difficulty and psychological pressure due to the potential delay of other passengers. There are growing calls for more practical and simplified payment alternatives that do not rely solely on digital banking or manual data entry.