Nottingham City Council has launched a contactless payment system for local buses and trams run by different operators, saying it is first of its type outside of London.
Under the new Tap & Go option, people are able to pay for journeys on Nottingham City Transport buses, NET trams and Linkbuses operated by CT4N using bank cards or smartphones, with a £5.60 cap on the daily charge when using a combination from the three.
The system has been developed by transport technology specialist INIT, which has its UK office in Nottingham, with £2.7 million of backing from the Department for Transport’s (DfT) National Productivity Fund and Transforming Cities Programme.
The council said that since the Nottingham Contactless system for payments for individual operators was launched it has been used three million times. The new multi-operator model has been designed to give people more flexibility in their travel choices.
Nottingham is now working with the DfT and regional partners to extend the use of the system.
Stress-free
Cllr Rosemary Healy, the council’s portfolio holder for local transport, said: “We have been working towards a multi-operator contactless and capped payment option for a number of years now, to make using our wonderful public transport network as simple and stress-free as possible.
“It’s something we may have experienced in other great cities and I’m really pleased we are now offering it to people visiting, living and working in Nottingham.
“The new system will always give the best value for passengers, providing an extra reason for even more people to choose our award winning green public transport services. This in turn helps Nottingham continue to grow sustainably.”
