UK: Tap-on, tap-off pay-as-you-go fare payment by contactless bank card went live at Edinburgh Trams on May 19. ToTo has been deployed in partnership with payment provider Flowbird and builds on the existing TapTapCap system used by the tram operator’s sister company Lothian Buses to provide multimodal account-based ticketing.
Tram and bus payments are automatically capped at the cheapest daily and weekly rate. Unlike on the flat-fare bus services, tram passengers need to tap-off on the platform validator when they alight, to avoid the zonal journey being registered as incomplete and being charged the £7·90 premium fare for journeys to the airport zone. Each contactless card or device can only be used for one standard adult fare, and people travelling in groups or with children should still use the ticket vending machines or app purchases.
Flowbird supplied 110 platform validators, 60 handheld ticketing devices and a CloudFare back-office integrated with Lothian Buses. The platform validators are installed on, and draw power from, lighting columns.
‘Accommodating both tram and bus journeys within a unified ABT scheme – and dealing with differing fares structures - required the development and configuration of complex business rules’, said David Thompson, General Manager for Transport at Flowbird.
‘We are proud of our partnership with Edinburgh Trams, alongside Lothian Buses, in developing and delivering Scotland’s first multimodal, multi-operator account-based ticketing system’, he said. ’Edinburgh is a true world city and so it is fitting that its people, along with millions of visitors, should benefit from technology that makes travel on the tram and bus network seamless, easy to use and cost effective. By doing so, we encourage a modal shift to more sustainable transport and help to make cities more liveable.’
