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DEBIT CARD PAYMENTS on buses could be in place late next year after it was confirmed that the National Transport Authority (NTA) had launched a tendering process for the new system.
The new system would “dynamically update” so that the fare charged to the customer would depend on the frequency of use, as is the case with some services with the Leap Card.
Stakeholders were providing an update to the Oireachtas Transport Committee this afternoon on the transport strategy for the Dublin area.
Speaking to TDs and Senators, Dublin Bus CEO Ray Coyne said he expects the new system to be in place “at the latter end of 2023″ depending on the results of the tendering process.
Digital payment options that would allow passengers to pay with contactless bank cards, smartphones and QR codes have been mooted for some time, with Ireland lagging behind some other countries that have introduced such systems.
The NTA said last year that 2023 or 2024 would be a “likely timeline” for the new system but that this was an estimate.
Speaking today, Coyne said the tendering process for the “next generation ticket” project had now commenced.
He added that it would also account for the weekly and daily caps on charges that apply to the Leap Card system:
It depends what the NTA request but you can pay with your bank card, Garmin Pay, Apple Watch, it could be your phone.It dynamically updates, so if you just did one journey and it’s a €1 fare it will charge you a euro, if you did 20 journeys and it’s going to be €2 or whatever it’ll charge you that after the event, it will always give you the cheapest fare.They’ve started the tender process so that’s commenced, 2023-24 you’ll see it rolled out on buses.
It has previously been suggested that the “next generation ticketing” system would move to cashless payments by 2027 but Coyne also said today that any move to make public transport fully cashless would be a decision to be taken by government.
“In terms of cash versus cashless, it’s tipping into 90% cashless, which is great. It will be a government, political decision to go cashless and that’s what we’ve see in other jurisdictions,” he said.
You might get it down to about 2% through heavily discounting cashless and ramping up. That then becomes a political decision, some people don’t have the money to have credit in a Leap Card or they only want to do a journey twice a year or something.
Coyne said if cashless travel was a goal for government then a decision “would have to be made very quickly”.
He added, however, that while it would save Dublin Bus some money it would “not be significant”.
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Hard to believe this is the case in a city renowned for being a tech hub
@The Divils Avocado: The tech companies could get the technical side done easily. The union negotiations, dealing with the government tender process, politicians, serial objectors etc would be beyond them. And the unions are probably all for it since it reduces risk to them, but it has to be worked through. Good luck to them persuading all the people who don’t ever want to pay electronically for anything (for whatever reason).
This has been available in London for 10 years. It’s an absolute joke
@ciaranactually: Bigger joke is they’ve had an underground for 160 years and we still haven’t.
@Pat Barry: London is the 2nd biggest city in Europe with a population of 9 million. Dublin is the 35th biggest with a population of 1 million. Not a fair comparision.
@Mickey Finn: I’m not comparing them but Dublin is big enough to justify one yet never any talk about it, no vision or ambition whatsoever from our governments, too busy squandering money on silly stuff.
@Mickey Finn: Rotterdam, Copenhagen, Amsterdam, Lisbon, some random irrelevant European you’ve never heard of… take your pick- they also have better public transport infrastructure than Dublin.
@Mickey Finn: bud are you for real?
@ciaranactually: over a decade – takes credit cards inc. Amex too. Are they suggesting this will only take debit cards?
@Tomo: It’s nothing new.
@Mickey Finn: Glasgow has one with 600,000 people.
@Ed: and since 1896!
A cashless society is not a good society. There are so many difficulties associated with it.
Already banks charge for every withdrawal and every cashless transactions means a charge from the bank. Government does not care about this and does nothing to protect the citizen from having to pay to access and use their own money
Every transaction is noted by either the bank or by gvmt. If you want to pay someone 20€ or even pay a busker some money it is traceable, taxable and in the example of a busker not possible if you dont have the proper cashless system to give or receive.
A person can not have their own stash of cash at home as all the money will have to be electronically sent to a bank from a employer/pension of whatever and then there will be no cash to withdraw from the bank only electronic payment.
The citizen will have no control over their economic resources.
@Ronan Murphy: well said, we will only realise this when it’s gone and we have no more control of our own money, cash is king.
@Peter Jo: Cash may be king, but the majority of money is spent electronically.
@Ronan Murphy: Your cashless society comments are irrelevant. You can still top up your leap by cash and use it with this system. Paying cash directly to the bus driver is an outdated process that slows everyone down and is inefficient.
Just when free transport will be introduced, good job.
Taxis need to get set up to pay by card. Them, and drug dealers are the only people still operating in cash only. And sure even some of the drug lads ya can pay with revolut.
@Rob Gale: If you use Free Now or Lynk Taxis on your mobile you don’t need to pay them in cash. You can even include a tip.
So we have three CEO that oversee state transportation Dublin Bus /Bus Eireann & Irish Rail, Yet we have the NTA /TFI with their own CEO ?
Limping along – decades behind everyone else … but yay for Dublin
You’d be mad to use it though, when Leap card fares are discounted.
@Eoin Roche: I would imagine a cashless payment would fall under the remit of a leap card in terms of fares but who knows.
@Fi Wyse: Given the painful progress on integrated ticketing and fare restructuring over the years, I’d hesitate to make that assumption for the moment.
@Eoin Roche: It literally states it in the article. The cintactless system will operate under leap fares and caps
@Fi Wyse: Yes, it’s even stated in the article
Well overdue!
Contactless & Smartphone payments…. You’re waiting for one then two come along at the same time, lol.
There’s stalls in my local farmers market with sellers of all ages up to their 80’s and no wired internet that have devices that can take card payments for any amount
This is bloody backwards
Absolute codswallop
Now I can pay contactless for a service that’s always late, rammed and goes nowhere yay
Great news,only 10 years late to the party
We have them in mallorca now. We’re so much behind the times.
Good timing, GAFAM need more personal data.
Slowly does it
Will that interfere with my free travel pass
@Noel Donohue: No reason it would
@Noel Donohue: Your Green Regina card? That works already…
have your say