An integrated e-card charging system will be implemented on three bus routes from Jan. 1, the Ministry of Transportation and Communications (MOTC) said Thursday. The new service that accepts various kinds of e-cards will be introduced on the No. 1070 Banciao to Keelung Express, the Lukang to Taiwan High Speed Railway's Taichung Station Express and the Kenting Express. The multi-card readers, which according to the MOTC can recognize up to eight different cards, will first serve those holding cards issued by EasyCard Corp., Far Eastern Electronic Toll Collection Co., Taiwan Smart Card Co. and Kaohsiung Rapid Transit System. The service will be extended to 6,795 buses, or 60 percent of the total buses in operation nationwide by April, said Taipei Deputy Mayor Chen Wei-jen, who supervised the project when he served as deputy transport minister. 'Just imagine those cards as different rooms in a hotel, ' Chen said. 'Wherever travelers are from, they can easily get to their rooms by passing through the 'multi e-card reader' lobby.' The MOTC said it plans to allocate NT$15 billion (US$517 million) to promote public transport and sponsor bus companies around the country to introduce the integrated e-card charging system within three years. 