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Merseytravel Gets a Ticket to Ride with Parkeon

2nd November 2010

Three hundred thousand holders of concessionary travel passes can now enjoy smarter bus rides, thanks to Parkeon technology specified for the newly-launched Merseytravel ITSO scheme.

The scheme, set to become one of the largest smart networks outside London, is built around Parkeon’s Wayfarer200 ticketing platform, which is being installed on buses operated by Arriva North West for the 500 service between Liverpool Airport and Liverpool City Centre, CumfyBus, Avon Buses, Supertravel and Halton Borough Transport.

Passengers will benefit from the smartcard scheme, which has already gone live on CumfyBus within 5 months of contract award. Each bus has been fitted with the Wayfarer200 ETM, with integrated contactless smartcard reader, which collects and transmits transaction data to Parkeon’s back-office suite for processing and reconciliation.                 

While the system is capable of handling commercial ITSO transactions, the first phase of the journey towards total ticketless travel on Merseyside will see the validation of English National Concessionary Travel Scheme (ENCTS) smartcards. Benefits to operators will include greater flexibility in developing future ticketing products, faster and easier boarding and cross-modal acceptance covering bus, rail and ferry travel.

Neil Scales, Chief Executive of Merseytravel, said: “This project is a great example of partnership working between transport authorities, operators and suppliers such as Parkeon. We now look forward to rolling out the benefits of smart travel to passengers and operators alike - and enabling new ITSO-based commercial opportunities to be developed for bus travel in the future.”

Councillor Mark Dowd, chair of Merseytravel, said:”Soon we will extend the technology to incorporate our ferry services and eventually we will have the biggest smartcard network outside London.”

Gavin Trimnell, Head of UK Sales at Parkeon, said that the Merseytravel success underlines the quickening pace of technology adoption in public transport.

“Merseytravel now has the smart network foundations in place to plan ahead for all concessionary and commercial ITSO ticketing requirements, thanks to the inherent future-proof nature of Parkeon automatic fare collection platforms. We continue to be involved in every ITSO scheme in the country, which represents a great achievement for Parkeon and for equipment developed and engineered exclusively in the UK.”

Ends

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Philip Colley, Harvest

Tel: 023 9244 9655  07785 306378  philip.colley@harvestpr.co.uk