Photo: AVM

Venice and Dublin announce contactless payment rollouts

08 July 2024

by Christopher Carey

Venice, Italy has launched a contactless open payments system across it transportation network.

Managed by the city’s Azienda Veneziana della Mobilità (AVM), the system has been designed by Conduent Transportation and is part of plans to modernise the network which counts over 180 million passengers each year.

“It’s been a few busy months of work that has made [the] technology a reality on the whole transport network managed by AVM,” said Giovanni Seno, general manager of Gruppo AVM.

“We have progressively improved the customer experience of the new validators – also listening to feedback received from passengers – and we are looking forward to the summer season with an innovation that has enormous potential, both in terms of market penetration and in terms of impact on our organisation.”

Over 2,200 ticket validation machines have been installed to manage payment across the city’s fleet of 149 water vessels, 540 buses and 20 trams.

Dublin selects provider

Ireland’s National Transport Authority (NTA) has selected Spanish firm Indra to rollout contactless payments across Dublin’s public transport network.

The long-awaited move will allow passengers to pay fares using their bank cards or mobile phones, and is part of the wider BusConnects programme which aims to modernise services in Irish cities.

The contactless rollout will initially focus on the Greater Dublin Area and is expected to reduce delays caused by cash transactions at bus stops.

Despite calls for a faster implementation, the upgrade is expected to take three to four years to fully deploy across all public transport infrastructure.

Dublin first introduced a contactless smartcard – the Leap card –  in 2011, but increasingly cities in Europe and North America have moved towards contactless open loop payments using bank cards or mobile phones.

“Next Generation Ticketing (NGT) will replace the aging legacy Leap card system nationally, extending capability in this area to include, for example, contactless payments and modern fare management and account management services,” an NTA spokesperson said.

Image: AVM

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