LEADERS from across the Midlands are calling on Government to fund a region-wide smart ticketing platform for public transport.
A ‘tap and cap’ system, similar to the platform used by Transport for London, would allow travellers to pay for trips on the rail, bus and tram network via their smartphone, travel pass or bank card.
A new payment model would ‘cap’ the payments at a daily or weekly limit, offering value for money for those travelling across the whole Midlands region, regardless of travel mode or transport operator.
The smart platform could also be adapted to include emerging transport modes such as electric bike hire and the rental of e-scooters.
While smart ticketing initiatives exist in some form in Nottingham, via the Robin Hood travel card and in parts of the West Midlands via ‘Swift’, the UK’s second biggest public transport payment system after London’s Oyster scheme, this new platform would be the first to function at a Midlands-wide level, and encompass all public transport operators.
Post COVID-19, new payment models are seen as essential in supporting more flexible work and travel patterns, with season tickets likely to represent poor value for money for many commuters.
The new contactless system would also make payments completely touch free.
The development of the smart ticketing platform, which will be based on ‘Swift’ payment technologies, will be led by Transport for West Midlands (TfWM) with initial rollout of the plans being implemented by TfWM and Nottingham City Council.
Councillor Ian Ward, leader of Birmingham City Council and transport portfolio lead for the West Midlands Combined Authority, said:
“The way we work, live and travel is changing – this smart ticketing platform will mean better value for money, more convenient ways to pay and crucially, more people using our public transport network.
“Government must deliver on its promises to ‘level-up’ and support passengers in Birmingham and the wider Midlands, as it has done in London.”
