Yesterday, travel company First launched the “touch card“. The new way to pay for fares that works in a similar fashion to London’s oyster card – users will pay for their journeys simply by touching the smartcard against the ticket machine on buses.
Users will be able to top up their touch cards both on the bus and at Bath or Bristol bus stations. First have announced that online top ups are expected to be, “…in place before the end of the year”.
The journeys currently covered by the touch card include a Bristol FirstWeek Inner Zone adult ticket, Bristol FirstMonth Inner Zone adult ticket, Bristol FirstWeek Outer Zone adult ticket and Bristol FirstMonth Outer Zone adult ticket. To see more about travel zones in Bristol, check out First’s guide.
Only adult tickets are available at the current time, although First plans to include student and child fares in the future.
“This is phase one of our delivery schedule: more developments are planned in the coming months and the functionality of the cards will grow and grow”
Paul Matthews, Managing Director for First West of England, said: “There has long been an appetite for smartcards in Bristol and we have been keen to deliver them as quickly as possible. It is fair to say we have encountered some hiccups along the way which have, frustratingly for everyone, delayed the roll out of the technology. However we are pleased to say though that we are now getting there.
“We’ve been testing touch cards with a small group of users for some months, and in June we started making the cards available to all customers via our Travel Shops in Bristol and Bath. Today though the Touch Card gets its first formal launch. This is phase one of our delivery schedule: more developments are planned in the coming months and the functionality of the cards will grow and grow. As this happens we will make further announcements.”
First is also rolling out an electronic payment card for use on Bath’s Park & Ride buses on Monday. The Travel+ card will act as a trial ahead of plans to introduce the service to other bus routes across the region.
Convenience first
Speaking about the Travel+ card, Councillor Caroline Roberts said: “It is really important that the council and First make park-and-ride journeys as convenient as possible for people who want to use this quick, green form of public transport.
“Multi-journey smartcards are a crucial part of enhancing the customer experience, particularly for those commuters who use the service daily with a 10 journey ticket who must currently store a piece of paper in their pockets which can easily get lost.”
