Point card

We thought the new system, point card which is cooperating stores and community bus, to be used by many local residents.

Specifically, we think company should give point customers when passengers take community bus and customers can use the points at local supermarkets as discount ticket. Therefore, we think company should make a system which is considering the cooperation with shops.

On the merchant side, the number of customers who want to receive discount services increases, which leads to increase in profits and of course, users can enjoy the benefit of receiving discount services. Also, for local governments and bus companies that operate community buses, if the number of people using buses to save points increases, revenue will increase and we can expect to have more room for management. Furthermore, if the rate of increase in revenue is large, the financial burden of the municipality responsible for the operation may be reduced and the investment in other public services may be carried out, thereby improving the quality of life for residents.

In addition, we think that the point redemption destination may be not only the store but also the community bus itself. If companies introduce a system that discounts the fare of the community bus if users accumulate more than a certain point, the elderly people who have difficulty driving a car can be positively use as a substitute for walking.

Instances of Matsumoto City, Nagano prefecture

Here we list the community buses that are providing point card services that are operated in Matsumoto City, Nagano Prefecture. Matsumoto city is the center of the transportation network as Matsumoto Station, railroads and buses are operated throughout the city. However, users of both railways and buses have been steadily decreasing, and instead the number of registered cars owned by private cars has been on an upward trend.

Therefore, as part of the regional traffic policy reconsideration, Matsumoto City started a point card service cooperating with four stores from FY 2010. In this service, when one point card is accumulated in a pharmacy, the following benefits are implemented.
Matsumoto city has said that the number of users after service started has increased significantly as a result.

In other words, considering the success of Matsumoto City and the merit obtained from introducing the point card system, the point card service is considered to be one of the effective measures to promote the use of the community bus. In addition, by combining with measures such as 'Shop invested in' and 'Resident discount' introduced in this site, it is expected to have a great effect on securing more passengers.