Whippet has marked a year of tap-on, tap-off contactless payments on its bus services in Cambridgeshire, during which time it has recorded over 350,000 such transactions.
The Ascendal Group subsidiary was the first operator in the county to introduce tap-on, tap-off, which is provided by technology from Ticketer and LittlePay.
It says that both passengers and drivers appreciate the convenience of that system, which calculates the cheapest fare on any Whippet bus. Over 60% of passengers that pay an adult fare on the operator’s services now use tap-on, tap-off.
Deployment of the payment method sits alongside other improvements to the business. It recently rolled out the OmniDAS depot allocation system from Velociti Solutions, which is helping to streamline operations.
Whippet Interim General Manager Ed Cameron says: “Tap-on, tap-off has been live now for 12 months and we are proud to have been the first operator to bring it to passengers in Cambridgeshire.
“We have had great support from Ticketer and LittlePay, and the process of introducing and maintaining the system has been simple thanks to the strong working relationship we have developed.”
Mr Cameron has suggested that other SME bus operators would benefit from adopting tap-on, tap-off contactless payments if they have not already done so. He adds that integrating that solution was seamless for Whippet.
Ticketer CEO Kelly Hanna observes that tap-on, tap-off reduces stop dwell times and removes barriers to bus travel, in addition to providing the best value to customers.
“It is admirable to see Whippet spearheading initiatives that prioritise the passenger experience, and we are incredibly proud to have partnered with it for this,” she says. “We look forward to seeing what other forward-thinking offerings it brings to the region as our partnership continues.”
