COMMUTERS will soon no longer have to use cash to travel across the country.

COMMUTERS will soon no longer have to use cash to travel across the country.

From next month commuters will be using plastic cards for all land public transport.

The introduction of the user-friendly Commuter Card will revo-lutionise the way people pay for transport and they will also get other value-added services.

Computer Card chief executive Issack Lesole said the card would remove the burden of carrying cash .

Commuters would be able to load money into the card at major retailers country-wide.

"It could also be debited monthly from a commuter's bank account," Lesole said.

The research and development of the card was done by Commuter Card Holdings.

Lesole said the card provides everything the Department of Transport ever wanted for the country.

"It is a breakthrough in our transport industry and will give the poor a chance to have benefits that they would not have received anywhere else," Lesole said.

The card will be officially launched next month and will be up and running before the Fifa 2010 World Cup.

Lesole said it cost the Transport Department R10million to develop and promote the card.

He said for an additional R49 a month commuters will receive:

lR10000 accidental cover;

lR40000 hospital insurance;

lEmergency evacuation, including ambulances through Netcare 911;

lBroad legal services;

l24-hour-customer services and

lTwo free general practitioner consultations a month.

"Commuters can load cash on the card and also use it to buy at major retailers across the country," Lesole said.

He said the card was legislated by the National Land Transport Transition Act of 2000.

"It is the government's objective to get the card up and running in all host cities before the start of the 2010 Fifa World Cup," Lesole said.