Government trials mobile tickets

The Department for Transport (DfT) is to start the first major government-backed trial of near-field communications (NFC) to enable mobile phone ticketing on buses.

The DfT is carrying out hardware tests for the technology, with a view to beginning live trials in the next couple of weeks in the north of England, according to sources close to the project.

The department’s programme will be its first to use the ITSO smartcard standard on mobile phones. But a number of independent ITSO-based schemes are already in progress across the UK to test the system.

Bus operator Arriva started its mobile ticketing project in February. The service is a UK first, as it allows passengers to pre-purchase barcode-style tickets through their mobile phone, with authentication via on-board scanners.

“We already had the technology ready to go, so we started our own trials to save time,” said a spokesman for Arriva.

The transport group is conducting trials in Dartford and Gravesend until June and will apply for ITSO certification in case it decides to fully implement the service.

In December, Transport for London (TfL) was the first to launch a large-scale NFC pilot in the UK.

The six-month trial, in partnership with Barclaycard, Nokia and O2, uses 500 mobile handsets incorporating Oyster smartcard technology.

“We have had very positive feedback from the trials and will decide if it would be worthwhile rolling out the technology on a larger scale this summer,” said TfL’s director of fares and ticketing Shashi Verma.

“Although NFC-enabled handsets are not going to be widely available until 2010, we are well ahead of schedule for the technical trials.”