Periodic passes

Many operators offer a variety of periodic passes. They include time-based passes, such as for: an entire day; all weekdays; weekends; a week or seven days; a calendar month or 30 days; or even longer. They may also be sub-classified for use at any time of day, or for use only at off-peak periods and in the evenings.
These passes may be issued by the operator or by authorized agents. Where a regional fares charging scheme is in place encompassing several operators and sometimes several modes, the fare system operator may then manage the arrangements for allocation of the revenues between the service providers.

The passes may be for the entire transport system, on a particular mode of transport or for one or two specific routes. Passes can be both for general use, not requiring identification (other than, perhaps, for high-value long-duration passes), and also for concessionary use (in which case the duration is generally longer, and personal identification is usually required). Occasionally and subject to acceptable proof of age, the issue of tickets for young persons may be authorized for sale by agents.

Where concession passes are provided to specific user groups such as pensioners, scholars or other targeted groups, usually they are of restricted use and may require an initial formal validation by the concession sponsor before an agent can issue a customized pass. Usually, but not always, there is some form of contractual financial support to the operator from the concession promoter. This may include reimbursement against evidence of usage, or indirect local or central government support.

The ticket media used will usually be restricted to the media offered by the participating operators. In some cases, the identification is built onto the medium whilst in other cases there may be a separate and uniquely numbered identity pass that is required to be shown when using a correspondingly numbered travel pass. The travel pass is then only valid when the identity pass is also shown. The identity pass is permanent and has a small picture of the pass holder. The travel pass is renewable periodically.