Flowbird-Logo-Blue

City of Edinburgh, SCOTLAND

THE FIRST CONTACTLESS AND CAPPED PAYMENT PUBLIC TRANSPORT SYSTEM OF SCOTLAND LAUNCHED IN EDINBURGH

700 buses

city of Edinburgh

700 on-board

validation system (Infigo)

Open Payment

over 50% of journeys

A SUCCESSFUL PROJECT

1M taps in less than 2 months.

The first contactless and capped payment public transport system

of Scotland launched in Edinburgh

Lothian, principal public transport operator in Edinburgh and Flowbird are making Mobility as a Service (MaaS) a reality in Edinburgh.

An account-based ticketing system based on Open Payment was launched in time, a few days before the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, in 2019. This is a huge global event when the city’s population more than doubles!

The project enables inhabitants and visitors easy access to Lothian services, using their payment card as a ticket.

PROJECT GOALS

  • Ensure an effective transport system with an easier payment method
  • Facilitate the access in order to encourage people to use public transport

THE OPEN PAYMENT SOLUTION

The passengers get on the bus, tap their means of payment to the device (specific EMV reader) and sit down. 

The transaction time is very quick. No need to queue in a point of sale or to look for money, it’s very simple. The back office CloudFare ABT, a simple tool for operators, developed with the new technologies, facilitates the payment. It creates an account for the token used (card, phone, watch), records the journeys and aggregates the fares for settlement at the end of the day. The contactless and capped solution is fully PCI P2PE certified by the PCI Security Standards Council.

BENEFITS

  • The ability to cap the cost of several journeys the same day: after 3 taps or more, the system automatically charges the best price for a daily ticket
  • Secured solution
  • Easy access and time-saving: the transport ticket is bought and validated in less than 1 second, simple tap with the device
  • Only one support: credit card/mobile phone/watch
  • Sustainable mobility: eco-friendly approach that favors paperless