DEVELOPMENT OF AN INTEGRATED TARIFF BASED ON THE ATTO TRANSPORT CARD

Аннотация

This paper examines the development of an integrated “city–suburb” tariff system for the Tashkent agglomeration, based on the ATTO transport card. The study highlights the fragmentation of the current fare structure, in which suburban railway services remain excluded from the existing digital integration of urban transport modes (bus and metro). Drawing upon international best practices, the research proposes a methodological framework for incorporating suburban train journeys into a unified tariff zone, applying transfer discounts, and preventing fare duplication. The proposed model aims to reduce overall passenger expenditures, enhance the attractiveness of public transport, and support the establishment of a sustainable “city–suburb” mobilitysystem. Keywords: Integrated tariff; ATTO transport card; suburban railway; public transport integration; transfer compensation; urban–suburban mobility; fare unification; Tashkent agglomeration. Introduction. The dynamics of contemporary urbanization highlight the urgent necessity for coherent integration between metropolitan and suburban public transport networks. In Tashkent, a partial model of digital integration has already been introduced through the ATTO unified transport card, which facilitates cashless fare payments and ensures transfer compensation across urban modes of travel—particularly bus and metro—within a one-hour timeframe. Nevertheless, suburban railway services remain excluded from this integration, creating systemic fragmentation and imposing additional financial burdens on passengers, especially those engaged in daily commuting between suburban settlements and the city core. Given the technical capacities of the ATTO transport card and the availability of mobile payment terminals on suburban trains, there is significant potential for the development of an integrated tariff scheme. Such a model must incorporate suburban rail trips as an inseparable element of the overall route, eliminate duplication in payments, and provide transfer compensation in linewith the existing urban framework [7]. Current framework of ATTO-based integration. Under the current regulations, passengers may utilize the ATTO card for non-cash payments across urban public transport. The compensation mechanism is structured as follows: –Theaccounting period begins from themoment ofthefirst card validation. –Thecompensation windowisfixed at onehour. –An additional restriction imposes a30-minutelimitin cases ofrepeated validation onthesamebus. – A repeated entry into the metro is not subject to compensation: the system records such an action as anew journey, triggering a new hourly interval. page283 INTERNATIONALJOURNALOF ARTIFICIALINTELLIGENCE ISSN:2692-5206,ImpactFactor:12,23 AmericanAcademicpublishers,volume05,issue09,2025 Journal: https://www.academicpublishers.org/journals/index.php/ijai Pic.1.Fare payment during transfers between modes ofurban publictransport This arrangement enables partial tariff integration in Tashkent, limited to bus and metro transfers. However, suburban railway routes fall outside its scope. At present, travel on suburban trains of the Tashkent railway hub requires either the purchase of a single-ride paper ticket at ticket offices located at major stations, or direct payment to a conductor inside the train at intermediate stops. Additionally, conductors are equipped with mobile terminals that allow payment via ATTO cards or onlinebanking cards. Despite the availability of digital payment options, the interaction between the urban and suburban fare systems remains fragmented. The primary obstacles include: 1.Theabsenceof automaticdata transfer regarding train journeys intotheATTO system. 2. The lack of algorithmic logic enabling suburban trips to be recognized as part of the one-hour compensation framework. 3.Insufficient unificationof fare policies and ticketing practices. As a result, passengers encounter duplicated payments when transferring from buses to suburban trains, which increases their cumulative transport expenditures. In the context of rapid urban expansion and growing suburbanization, such systemic barriers impede the development of a sustainable“city–suburb”transport model. Proposal for an integrated “city + suburb” tariff. The ATTO platform, combined with the functionality of mobile terminals used by train conductors, already provides the technical basis for an integrated fare system. By enhancing the underlying software and payment algorithms, it is possible to ensure that suburban train trips are automatically recognized as a continuation of urban routes. This would enable transfer discounts between city and suburban modes, prevent fare duplication,and promotepublictransport usage across longer commutingdistances. To establish afair and incentive-based model, thefollowingprinciples are recommended: – Suburban train trips should be accounted for as an integral part of the journey within the one-hour compensation window. – A fixed dis