Isn't this how it would work:

• Commuter Rail, or Metro
• Then to a Bus
• and the last 1 km on an auto, or on foot.

So, it may sound odd, but this integrated ticket system requires a solid supporting program to take me home from the nearest bus stand.

• either support for autorickshaws on the same "single ticket"
• or, nice pavements

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 Ped shoud be definite yes. Can be a good excuse to build good sidewalks. Walking for upto a km on a good, flat, obstruction free sidewalk with direction boards and raised crosswalks is very much feasible than trying to run too many vehicles for short distances.

For tkts, autorickshaws may be tricky, I thought they are complicating it a little too much by trying to link KSRTC also. Integrating agencies that service a single geographical city would have been a good start. In this case BMTC & BMRC would have sufficed. But I am happy they are on the right track.

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 For what ever the seamless ticketing would provide..the costs for the same needs to be covered somewhere..they are not gonna come free..

Sivasailam would not run train for charity..and so will the BMTC not do it..so who gets hit?

KSRTC bus travellers - Say the person is travelling from Mysore and he pays X Rs..then the extra cost will be the max cost of everything..bmtc and metro..

This may be close to double the ticket price.. is it affordable?!

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 This may be close to double the ticket price.. is it affordable?

It depends on the implementation. Printed combined tkts are usually time based unless they are the punchable variety. It is also usually cheaper than single buys to make it attractive. Of course if you dont end up using it effectively you could end up having paid more. 

Alternately if these integration efforts are smart card based with prepaid amounts then depending on the mode and distance they will be charged. Smart cards also allow you to avoid revenue sharing hassles because the usage and mode can be tracked at the backend and revenue accounted for accordingly.

Singapore used to use smart cards which can be topped up at the machines when I lived there in the late 90's. I am sure they havent gone backwards. The oyster card in London is smilar. Below are some I use. Top right is a one month unlimited usage pass with a magnetic strip on its back to be used in trains, trams and buses in Stockholm. The front face with the writing can be shown when boarding buses and the mag strip in the back can be swiped to open the gates at the metro.

The top left and the bottom one are non high tech paper based one hour per timestamp tickets for trains, trams and buses. The top left is a 3 zone ticket in Copenhagen the more the zones, the more expensive and more distance you can cover. The bottom one is a straightforward 1 hour per timestamp tix for stockholm. You can get another strip after you exhaust this one. These you have to show at the counter at the metro or to the driver in the bus and get it timestamped.

PS: In high population countries a paper based system tends to clog the lines, while smart card systems get higher throughput

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Hong kong's Octopus card is probably one of the best combination ticketing system in the world. These can be bought at several outlets such as news kiosks, car parks, bakeries /fast food restaurants, etc. thus eliminating ques at the stations. This apart, the ticket can be used on the metro, buses, trans-harbor ferries, payment at retails, etc..

There are over 16 million such cards in circulation in Hongkong & adjacent areas (Macau, Shenzhen, etc) & over 8 million transactions are performed each day. The success of these cards in Hong kong has prompted several other cities to look into this system seriously for replicating it in their own cities.

Developing such a network is of course highly expensive & takes time, & would perhaps be along the lines of developing a debit card network .

For starters here at Bangalore, I feel that a common ticketing system for BMRC & BMTC is all that is required for travel within the city. Inclusion of autos & other forms of private transport may not be possible as these do not belong to the public domain & will therefore pose serious problems for revenue sharing. KSRTC can perhaps be included later to aid travel for the floating population, but the numbers being smaller when compared to daily city travellers, the authorities will need to carefully weigh the benefits before including KSRTC - I wonder if they have already made a study. Details of this are not available for the public !

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Closer home, the Delhi metro uses a smart card system that can be bought in various denominations & can be recharged when credit is low through card machines - they can also be bought at stores near metro stations. The deduction for a trip is made after fare verification when a passenger exits through the gate on his way out of a station. The cards can be used on metro feeder buses that are run by DMRC.

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