Contactless travel could be in place on every bus in Britain by 2022 under a multi-million-pound plan being developed by the country’s five leading bus operators.
Stagecoach, First Bus, Go-Ahead, Arriva and National Express are working together to produce a business case which is expected to be completed by late spring 2016.
The scheme, funded predominantly by the private sector, could see new EMV contactless technology installed on every one of the UK's 32,000-plus buses outside London. It would offer cashless travel for those who want it and capped pay-as-you-go-fares in all urban areas.
Around 76 million contactless cards are now in issue in the UK—a rise of nearly 40 percent in the past year. Some £929.8m was spent in the UK in October 2015 alone using a contactless card.
Contactless transactions are already accepted on London’s 9,600 buses. Commuters in the capital were responsible for about 1 in 10 of all UK contactless payments in December 2014.
FULL STORY: The UK Wants Nationwide Contactless Travel by 2022
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