Nottingham City Transport has rolled out a new contactless multi-operator tap-and-go option across its buses, NET trams and CT4N Linkbuses in what it describes as the first “Oyster-style” contactless system in the country outside London.
The system allows people to tap on with contactless bank cards or phones and pay a single daily charge capped at the best fare for travel, regardless of which of the three operators they use, or how many journeys they make on that day. Passengers can still pay for single fares or for multiple journeys, with a £5.60 cap for the day.
It comes after Nottingham City Council bid for £2.7m from the Department for Transport’s (DfT’s) National Productivity Fund and Transforming Cities Programme.
INIT is the developer responsible, and it is hoped the new system will act as a foundation for future rollout in the city and to more operators. Nottingham City Council will now work with DfT and regional partners such as Transport for West Midlands and Midlands Connect to integrate operators such as Trentbarton and the region’s train operating companies.
Says Jens Mullak, Managing Director of INIT: “We are thrilled to deliver this exciting ticketing solution, which makes public transport more attractive – particularly important as our sector tries to attract people back to our trams and buses.
“From our dedicated Nottingham office in the Lace Market, INIT continues to deliver modern, simple fare solutions that Nottingham’s passengers expect and deserve, and which has been propelled, in part, by their wish to pay using contactless during the pandemic.”
Adds NCT’s Strategic Projects Manager, Nicola Tidy: “Contactless payments have revolutionised the way people pay for travel on NCT buses and by expanding Nottingham Contactless so that customers benefit from Robin Hood price caps when they travel across NCT, NET and Linkbuses, paying for travel around Nottingham is now even more convenient.”
