Arriva and Ticketer have joined forces to install contactless payment-enabled ETMs to 3,500 buses.
The project begins in November and it will be complete by summer 2019. It will replace every on-board ticket machine with Ticketer’s units, which also accept QR codes, m-tickets, Apple Pay and Android Pay.
The switch follows a successful six-month trial in Guildford, by the end of which almost 30% of transactions were contactless.
Uptake of contactless payments particularly increased at weekends, which the two parties suggest may demonstrate its attractiveness to younger people.
Besides making travel more convenient, Ticketer’s machines reduce operators’ cost of cash collection and they also cut fraud. Stop dwell times also shorten, while information about how passengers travel is also delivered.
Ticketer’s back office provides real-time information about transactions and bus locations and messages can be sent to drivers.
Says Ticketer MD John Clarfelt: “This is a seemingly ambitious timescale, but we are up to the challenger and more than capable of delivering in yet another record year.”
