Black Country bus company pioneers contactless payment after £600K investment

Black Country bus company, Rotala, has invested £600,000 to install a new ticketing system across its West Midlands and Worcestershire services.

The new system applies to the company’s subsidiary operating in the West Midlands, Diamond Bus Ltd.

The deal, with UK-based company Ticketer, will see new ticket machines equipped with the latest technology go live on vehicles from April 23.

Rotala said the investment meant that Diamond could now offer passengers a range of new features. From a passenger’s perspective, the principal advantage will be Contactless Payment.

The firm said this offered passengers a more convenient way to pay, a reduced ticket purchase time and would enable buses to keep better time.

It is thought Rotala is the first operator in the West Midlands area to be able to offer contactless payment on a network-wide basis.

In due course, in coordination with Transport for the West Midlands, Real Time Information will be passed from the new ticket machines to TfWM’s RTI road infrastructure. In the near future, the same RTI will be available to passengers through Rotala’s own mobile app and website.

From the business perspective, the new ticket machines are equipped with the latest in tracking and communications technology; live location and status feeds for each vehicle will be reported back to depot traffic offices. This feature will enable the company to report delays much more accurately to customers and liaise more easily with drivers to identify and rectify problems.

Tickets will also be printed with individual QR codes. The QR codes will be scanned when boarding a bus and are unique to each ticket. This will significantly reduce the risk of fraudulent ticket abuse, a perennial management problem for any bus operator.

Simon Dunn, chief executive of Diamond Bus parent company Rotala, said: “I am really pleased with the progress we are making in Diamond Bus. This investment in new ticket machines, with all the benefits that brings to both customers and the business, is a clear demonstration of our determination to further improve the service we deliver to our passengers.”