Bus firm announces contactless payments

BRITAIN’S BIGGEST bus operator has announced plans to introduce contactless payment technology across its network by the end of 2018.

Stagecoach said the £12m project will enable passengers to pay for their journeys using contactless debit and credit cards, Apple Pay and Android Pay.

The technology will be available on all of the company’s 7,200 local buses in Britain.

The first stage of the roll-out was completed in Oxfordshire on Thursday, with 180 buses now able to accept contactless payments, including Oxford Tube express services between the city and London 24-hours-a-day.

Stagecoach said it is the first major deployment of the technology on Britain’s buses outside of London.

Passengers in Ashford, Kent, and Tyne and Wear will be able to use contactless cards by the end of the year, with Greater Manchester following in January.

Stagecoach insisted there will be no additional charge to customers.

Transport Minister Andrew Jones said the contactless transformation would help passengers outside London

He said: “The roll-out of contactless payment technology on Stagecoach bus services outside London will help hundreds of thousands of passengers.

“People will be able to buy tickets online and on smartphones, making bus travel more convenient, cutting queues and speeding up journeys.”

Stagecoach is also working with other major bus operators to install contactless technology on all of Britain’s 32,000 buses outside London.