The West of England has become the latest of First Bus’s operating areas to benefit from its ‘Tap and Cap’ technology in a bid to make bus travel more ‘flexible’ and ‘accessible than ever’.
Customers using First Bus and metrobus services in Bristol, including the m1 metrobus service, can now use the ‘Tap and Cap’ contactless payment method.
‘Tap and Cap’ is a paperless system that lets bus users pay for their journey without having to ask or wait for a ticket; they tap their contactless card or device on the Ticketer ticket machine’s contactless card reader as they board the bus.
Customers will automatically be charged a Bristol Zone single fare and daily costs will be capped at First’s Bristol Day ticket. Costs over a seven-day period will be capped at First’s Bristol Week ticket price.
Using an online portal provided by Littlepay, passengers can see what they’ve spent using ‘Tap and Cap’. The ‘Tap and Cap’ transaction will create a faster flow of customers on to buses, helping everyone stick to social distancing guidelines more easily.
James Freeman, Managing Director at First Bus West of England, says: “[Tap and Cap] marks another important milestone in our journey to make bus travel simpler for our customers using innovative technology and partnerships.
“It gives customers the confidence to know they will always get the best value fare when they buy on board and makes our buses more accessible than ever, at a time when customers need access to increasingly flexible options to meet their changing travel requirements.
The service was piloted in Aberdeen and is now also available on First buses in Doncaster and Southampton.
