Frequently Asked Questions
There are currently two ways to use a GO Card;
1. Top Up +GO – this is stored cash credit, held on the card and used when the passenger want to simply hop on a bus and make a trip. Depending on the length of the trip and the amount of trips made in a day.
2. Weekly Pass - The Weekly pass which costs 3 BHD* and provides unlimited travel on the bus network for a week time for the first time used .
3. Monthly Pass – the Monthly pass which costs 12 BHD* and provides unlimited travel on the bus network for 28 days for the first time used.
* - Discounted passes are available for elderly citizens.
Capping is a feature of pay as you go which allows you to make a number of journeys in a single day but limits the amount you pay for your travel. Each time you make a journey, you are charged a fare of 275 Fils*. Once the total cost of all your fares reaches 700 Fils* you won't have to pay for any more journeys for the rest of the day. This is called a cap. To use a daily cap you need a GO Card. To use The DAILY CAP you need a GO Card.
* - Discounted passes are available for elderly citizens.
You can get a GO Card from;
- Any ticket vending machine located in the bus terminal waiting rooms (Manama has a separate ticket vending building at the end of bay 3)
- Your bus driver
- Any manned bus terminal ticket office.
- Ticket Vending Machine at the driving school.
- Ticket Vending MAchine at LMRA Sehla.
* - Discounted elderly citizen, and free travel disabled citizen GO Cards are only available from the bus terminal ticket offices
A GO Card can be used to travel across the bus network. You can use it to hop on and off buses with either stored cash credit or a 7 day/28 day pass product. It is simply a way of ensuring you always have a ticket to ride the buses in your pocket without the need to carry money to pay cash fares.
You can add Cash Credit to your GO Card at;
- Any ticket vending machine located in the bus terminal waiting rooms (Manama has a separate ticket vending building at the end of bay 3)
- Your bus driver
- Any manned bus terminal ticket office
- BBR Machines located inside the buses.
- Ticket Vending Machine at Driving School.
- Ticket Vending MAchine at LMRA Sehla.
No, you must have some balance on the card* to make your trip and as a minimum should have enough Top Up +GO credit to make a single trip (275 Fils) unless you have other ticket products in the card, such as a 7 day/28 day Pass.
* Special needs citizens may purchase a GO-Card to use for free travel.
Yes, all new GO card costs 500 fils, a fee paid to a one-time-only when you are when you buy them from the devices selling tickets, bus driver or the ticket office at the main stations.
Yes, the GO Card is fully re-usable and designed for this purpose. You can load different ticket products and cash credit on to the card at any time. The cards is designed to be permanently re-used and over time paper tickets will be phased out so passengers are encouraged to get a GO Card as soon as they can.
The maximum level of Top Up +GO credit you can add to a single GO Card is 50 BHD. We recommend the minimum left on the card is 275 Fils.
If cards are found by members of the public they will be returned to the nearest bus terminal manned ticket office. If cards are found on buses by the driver or cleaning staff they will be returned to the traffic office at Isa Town bus depot.
You can take it to any ticket office at the main stations, but you will not receive the 500 fils (card value) and the balance will not be refunded, which is non-refundable and is only one-time payment.
GO Cards are set currently to have a 10-year life in line with the BPTC concession contract. However, this end date is fully configurable and will likely be increased. To all intents and purposes, the GO Card does not have an expiry date.
Products will have expiry dates and this is determined by the type of product and the first use date of the product. No product purchase will expire before use.
For example, a passenger can buy a Monthly Pass product and use it at any time in the future, it will only expire within 28 Days from the first used (Checked-In).
If you lose your GO Card please contact the customer service line or your nearest bus terminal manned ticket office. However, initially GO Cards are anonymous and so the likelihood of being reunited with the card is highly unlikely.
We recommend that customers wanting to ensure that a lost card can be returned.
should request a personalised card when purchasing the Go-Card from a manned ticket office.
Alternatively, passengers can take the card that they receive from the ticket vending machine or bus driver to a bus terminal manned ticket office and have it ‘personalised’ (a new card will be required at a further 500 Fils one-off cost).
Yes, you can, this can only be completed at a bus terminal manned ticket office and you will need to surrender your ‘anonymous’ card and pay an additional 500 Fils to receive a new personalised card which will have all existing products and cash credit balanced transferred onto it. You will need to bring your CPR card with you and present it to the staff at the bus terminal manned ticket office and also provide your name, address, contact details and have your photograph taken by our staff.
* - Discounted elderly citizen, and free travel special needs citizen travel is only available on a personalised GO-Card.
You should aim to keep at least 275 Fils of credit on your GO Card when using the Top-Up +GO feature. This ensures you can make at least the shortest network trip of 275 Fils (single trip). If you only have less than 275 Fils remaining on your card after you complete a journey, you are advised to re-charge your card before leaving the bus, using the reloader machine available.
You can check your GO Card balance on;
1. At any ticket vending machine located in the bus terminal waiting rooms (Manama has a separate ticket vending building at the end of bay 3)
2. With your bus driver
3. At any manned bus terminal ticket office
You cannot Check-In. This will either be due to;
1. A lack of credit balance (either zero, negative or not enough to make a single trip)
2. The GO Card being black-listed (will happen when reported lost/stolen and removed from the ticketing system by BPTC),
3. Damaged in some way as to stop the GO Card functioning
To rectify point 1 simply add cash credit or a new travel ticket product (e.g. 7 day/28 day Pass) at any ticket vending machine or with your bus driver.
To rectify points 2 and 3 you will need to go to a bus terminal manned ticket office and receive a new GO Card – you will be charged for the new GO Card (500 Fils).
Yes, please see below for more information:
Elderly citizens
Can visit a retail office at one of our bus terminals to purchase a GO-Card which will cost 500 fils. This will enable travel for 138 fils per trip. The maximum amount that will be charged is 350 fils per day, there is no limit to the number of trips that can be made.
To be eligible for the discounted travel the elderly citizen must provide their name and address and present a valid elderly card issued by the Ministry of Labour and Social Development, which will be scanned along with the person’s CPR.
Special Needs citizens
Can visit a retail office at one of our bus terminals to purchase a GO-Card which will cost 500 fils. This will enable free travel anytime. There is no limit to the number of trips that can be made.
To be eligible for the discounted travel the special needs citizen must provide their name and address and present a valid Bahrain nationality CPR with the relevant icon to indicate they are disabled, which will be scanned.
Not at present, we are working with the MTT and may introduce some discount schemes in the future. Users of these discounts will need a personalised GO Card and proof of compliance to obtain any such discount.
GO Cards are more convenient, they are cheaper than paper tickets/cash fares when using 2 or more buses to complete your journey, GO Cards are more flexible and provide you with an assurance that you can always travel, even if you have no change or cash (as long as the card has a credit or available travel ticket products on it).
Yes, you can have as many as you like but we recommend only using one.
* - Only 1 GO-Card can be issued per person for discounted travel for elderly citizens, and free travel for disabled citizens.
The GO Card has a set hierarchy for products. It will always use the longest duration travel product first and then default to Top Up +GO once all other products have expired.
Therefore, if a person has a weekly pass, a day ticket and 2 BHD in their Top Up +GO balance the ticket system will first use the week ticket until expiry, then the Monthly Pass the next time the passenger travels and finally the Top Up +GO credit.
Yes, through SADAD.
The credit will be available to collect on the bus ticket machine 2 hours after you top-up. When you check in on the bus the Go-Card will collect the credit and deduct the price of the trip you are making automatically. Alternatively, the credit can be collected within 15 minutes of topping up via Sadad by visiting a retail office at one of our stations.