Health codes soon to be pay codes on public transportation

People in Shanghai will soon be able to use their digital health codes to pay for rides on the city's public transportation, government officials said on Monday.

This will save people the trouble of using different apps on their phones to ride buses, ferry boats and Metro trains.

Government officials said preparation work for the new measure started last month in conjunction with the Jiushi Group, the city's major bus group, and Shentong Group, the Metro operator.

The work involves the integration of QR codes used for different purposes and the refitting of ticket machines on public transportation.

People will be able to use their health codes "Suishenma" when riding some of the buses and ferry boats by the end of September or early October, and the Metro operator said it will strive to enable the use of the codes on the maglev line and Metro Lines 1, 3, 4, 5, 10, 15, 16, 17 and 18 by the end of the year.