TRAFFIC authorities in Shenzhen have placed more TransCards on sale amid complaints from local residents that the public transport cards were always in short supply.

To ensure ample supply, up to 200,000 TransCards, also known as Shenzhentong cards, were sent to more than 700 outlets in the city Sunday, yesterday’s Chinese-language newspapers reported. Officials with the transport card company have promised to make available 50,000 TransCards daily starting yesterday.

The number is expected to go up to 80,000 daily in March, they said.

The city government introduced a new bus fare scheme Dec. 1 last year, resulting in reduced fares for commuters. As passengers only benefit from the new scheme if they use TransCards, an increasing number of passengers have begun to buy the cards.

Statistics show that the number of TransCards sold in Shenzhen has so far topped 2.1 million, compared to about 1 million before the new fare scheme was adopted.

The number of passengers who use the card has also increased to an average of 1.2 million every day from some 300,000 a day before Dec. 1.

At present, the penetration rate of the card within the special economic zone (SEZ) is 80 percent while the rate recorded for areas outside the SEZ is nearly 20 percent.

At a ceremony held Sunday to launch a month-long campaign to promote the use of TransCards, Vice Mayor Zhang Siping said the city government had decided to set aside some 600 million yuan (US$82 million) to subsidize transport fares for local residents.

He urged more residents to use the card as it “would bring real benefits to people.”

In December, 960,000 people used the card on average daily, taking the total amount of discounts received by residents to nearly 20 million yuan.Zhang also said no buses could reject TransCards, and passengers could refuse to pay the bus fare if they were not allowed to use the card.A number of measures, including cutting the deposit amount for the public transport card from 40 yuan to 30 yuan, have been taken to promote the use of TransCards since December.Shenzhen started to sell TransCards ?which are designed to be accepted on the Metro and all buses, and also in convenience stores ?in January 2006.(Eunice Kang)