West Midlands fits 2,500 'smart buses' with card readers

New ticketing technology will eventually reach across the UK

Smartcards hope to be used nationwide by 2020

Spurred on by the success of the London Oyster Card, regional transport authority Centro has fitted 2,500 West Midland buses with electronic card readers.

The £14m project allows half a million concessionary pass holders to use the reader, which is programmed to read microchips embedded in the pass.

Centro sourced the technology from Logica, who provide the smartcards, associated hardware and back-office services to integrate all parts of the scheme.

“The first phase of concessionary passes is complete, and with the infrastructure now in place, Centro is hoping to roll out commercial ticketing across the region within the next 12 months,” said Jeremy Springall, Logica’s business director for transport.

“We also intend to develop apps that will allow the user to monitor their journey through live feeds, keep them informed of traffic, tell them when to get off at a stop, and keep them updated on journeys they have made using their smartcard,” he added.

“We also envisage customers being able to use a smartcard for small retail payments, bicycle rentals and hiring electric cars as the technology develops."

The government and Department for Transport intend to extend ‘smart buses’ throughout the UK by 2020, but Springall suggests this may prove difficult.

“With public spending cuts, regional areas may not be able to afford smart ticketing systems. The solution may be software as a service, where more affluent authorities share their back-office services with others,” he says.