«Siticard» is a transport card system and cashless fare payment operator for public transit in Nizhny Novgorod Region. The legal entity is Siticard LLC, located at: Nizhny Novgorod, Kazanskaya Square, building 1.[1]
Cards and Fares
The system offers several types of transport cards. A personalized transport card is issued free of charge and is linked to the holder's passport and SNILS (individual insurance account number); production takes 14 days. A non-personalized card is provided upon payment of an activation fee. In addition, specialized cards are issued: the Nizhny Novgorod Region Resident Card for concession holders, schoolchildren, and students; a concessionary transport card; a student card; and a school card — all three are provided free of charge. Students have access to a concessionary e-wallet offering a 50% discount on suburban route fares. Rural schoolchildren may receive a free travel pass.[5][5][1]
Cardholders may use an e-wallet (paying for individual trips at a discount relative to the cash fare) or an electronic travel pass for a set number of trips or a time period. Holders of standard transport cards may use the e-wallet with free transfers within 60 or 90 minutes when travelling on city transport, minibuses, and the city commuter rail.[5] A pass for the cable car allows savings of up to 30% and can be loaded onto the card alongside a city transport fare.[4]
In addition to plastic cards, a virtual transport card is available for paying fares by smartphone, as well as the option to pay with a standard contactless bank card from the Mir, Visa, and Mastercard payment systems.[1]
Coverage and Infrastructure
The system accepts payment on six types of transport: tram, trolleybus, bus, Metro, suburban commuter rail, and cable car. The network has more than 5,600 terminals; approximately 34 million trips are recorded in the system each month. According to the operator, 88 out of every 100 journeys on Nizhny Novgorod transport are paid for cashlessly.[4]
The card can be topped up through cashiers, terminals in metro station lobbies, MFC (multifunctional center) branches, or remotely via mobile apps, including GorodPay. For remote top-ups, the operator has released its own mobile app, "SITICARD," for the Android platform.[5] When topped up remotely, funds arrive within 24 hours as a deferred payment, which must then be activated by tapping the card against a terminal on public transport or in the metro.[2]
Place in the fare payment system
"Siticard" is one of several cashless fare payment methods available on Nizhny Novgorod public transport. Alongside it, the "Nizhny Novgorod Region Resident Card," standard contactless bank cards, single-journey tickets, and the option to load a transit pass onto a Sberbank card are all in use. In 2026, the list was expanded to include payment via the Yandex Go service, launched first on electric buses and trolleybuses and then extended to the buses of "Nizhegorodpassazhiravtotrans."[1]
Sources
- siticard.ru — As of July 2026, the system covers seven modes of transport: tram, trolleybus, bus, electric bus, metro, suburban rail, and cable car
- siticard.ru — Siticard — Transit fare cards (archive)
- gorodpay.ru — Top up a Siticard transit card in Nizhny Novgorod online
- ru.wikivoyage.org — Nizhny Novgorod — Wikivoyage travel guide (archive)
- web.archive.org — Siticard — Personal transit card (archive)