Oyster-style smart bus tickets set to roll out across major urban areas
Greater Manchester will be first to get new tickets in England in 2015
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Major urban areas in England are to benefit from a new smart-ticketing system across bus networks from 2015.
Styled on London’s Oyster card system, in which people top up a single smart-card to pay for public transport journeys, the new ticket system will be introduced to Greater Manchester next year.
The scheme will then be rolled out across Tyne and Wear, Merseyside, South Yorkshire and West Yorkshire, and the city regions of Nottingham, Leicester and Bristol.
Oyster cards were introduced to London in 2003 and have since transformed payment for public transport to the point where the capital’s buses are now cashless.
In the West Midlands nearly 30 operators are already part of the Swift smart multi-operating ticket machine, which currently works across the region’s bus network but is intended to extend to trains and trams in due course.
The new smart-ticketing system starting next year is a joint initiative between bus companies Stagecoach, First, Arriva, Go Ahead and National Express, and represents a multi-million pound investment.
The technology will allow smaller bus operators to be included in the scheme and provide a platform to extend the system to other transport modes such as trams and trains.
In a joint statement the chief executives of the companies involved said: “Millions of people in our biggest city regions will benefit from this transformational initiative to provide London-style smart ticketing. It will deliver an even bigger programme and wider benefit than the capital's Oyster system.
”Bus operators share the aspirations of our city regions to become growing economic powerhouses and we know high quality public transport is an important part of making that happen."
Additional reporting by agencies
Subscribe to Independent Premium to bookmark this article
Want to bookmark your favourite articles and stories to read or reference later? Start your Independent Premium subscription today.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments