Bath is the clear leader in customer uptake of the tap on, tap off contactless fare payment introduced by First Bus, the operator has revealed. 40% of adult trips in that area were captured by the technology as of March 2023.
Tap on, tap off units have now been installed across First Bus’s UK operation except in Manchester and on coach routes. Over 4,000 vehicles have the necessary readers, with deployment having begun in March 2021 with a single-route trial in Portsmouth.
Of other areas where take-up is greatest, First operations in Bristol are in second place to Bath with 31% of adult trips; Leicester is third with 19%; and Worcester is fourth at 17%.
First Bus’s deployment of tap on, tap off has been undertaken in partnership with Littlepay and Ticketer. The operator has invested around £1 million in the project with additional contributions from seven local authorities.
Use of the technology allows more rapid boarding of passengers and the charging of the best fare, but it also permits First to gather more data about travel patterns. That will enable it “to make data-led decisions in the future that are based around customers’ needs,” the business says.
In addition to the conventional use of tap on, tap off, First Cymru in Bridgend has deployed what the group describes as “distance-based price capping” as a trial. First Bus says that it is currently monitoring that system and the behaviour of customers using it.
Ticketer Chief Commercial Officer Richard Blackburn-Hughes says that the current position of tap on, tap off “is just the start” for the payment method. “This infrastructure will enable further innovation in fare models and network organisation in the future,” he explains.
