Once a habit is formed, it can be a little hard to break.

The scene was a little chaotic at some bus stops during the rush hours yesterday as Beijing formally scrapped its decades-long paper monthly passes for public transport and replaced them with an automatic fare collection (AFC) system.

A little kid uses his smart card for a ride on Bus No.104 in  Beijing yesterday as an automatic fare collection system was introduced. [Newsphoto]

The nearly 1.5 million monthly pass users on the bus and the 200,000 on the metro now have to use palm-sized "smart" cards instead.

A passenger without a card may still buy a paper ticket to ride.

Passengers used to be allowed to enter any door of a bus, but now they are required to enter through the front door (or the middle door on buses with three doors) because that's where the AFC machine is usually installed. They must exit using the back door (or the front and back doors of a three-door bus).

And on the first day, some residents of this metropolis with more than 14 million people obviously could not get used to the slight but abrupt change.

"I agree it is convenient to use a card," said Zhao Tianbao, 62, a local resident on a No 62 bus, "but absolutely not at rush hour."

Zhao cited the No 300, which circles the Third Ring Road as an example: "Though the bus is very big, at rush hour it is extremely difficult to get on the bus as people now just swarm to enter through the front door."

Liang Yiran and Li Shanshan, both 17-year-old students, said they were late for school today because of the crowded situation in the morning.

"I wonder why they can't install machines at both doors," Liang said.

Cai Fen, a conductor on the No 62 bus, which operates between Jiangzhuanghu and the Yonghegong metro station, said that the change yesterday did not save her any work.

"I have to keep reminding people to enter from the front door at each stop and keep a close eye on those who use the card whether they used it correctly," she said.

"But that is understandable," Cai said. "After all, it is the first day."

More than 1,100 buses were added to the 84 busiest lines of the city to alleviate the pressure during the rush hours, the Xinhua News Agency quoted Li Xiaosong, deputy director of the Beijing Transportation Commission, as saying.

Foreseeing the possible confusion, the Beijing Municipal Committee of Communication arranged 4,000 "order maintainers" at the city's most crowded bus stops.

What's more railings were erected at most stops to organize queueing passengers.

(China Daily 05/11/2006 page3)