The Seoul city government said Sunday it will remove fare collection boxes from more than 170 Seoul city buses starting in October to test the operation of an all-digital fare payment system.

Fare boxes from 171 buses on eight Seoul city lines run by two companies will be removed from October until March, while new mobile QR codes will be placed at stations to allow purchases of digital bus cards, according to city officials.

The number of bus units subject to the all-digital trial program represents 2.4 percent of some 7,000 buses currently being operated across the city. Officials plan to review the results of the program and later decide whether to fully adopt it across the city.

By removing bus fare boxes, city officials expect a reduction in the risk of COVID-19 and other virus infections from cash transactions and an improvement in traffic safety from drivers not being hassled by managing the boxes.

The rate of cash use for bus fees in Seoul dropped from 5 percent in 2010 to 1 percent in 2019 and 0.8 percent last year. The figure is expected to dwindle to 0.1 percent in the next five years. (Yonhap)