New retail network is just the ticket!

Nottingham City Council is set to transform the way passengers buy public transport ‘smart’ tickets. A new £1.5m retail network of ticket machines is being developed alongside an online portal to make it faster, easier and more cost effective to buy, collect and top up tickets for journeys in and around the city.

Currently most people buying season or other ‘smart’ tickets are limited to over the counter transactions at travel centres in the city centre. These travel centres can be busy at peak periods and may not be convenient for customers to visit. Currently, not all ticket types are available online and collecting tickets can sometimes take up to three working days

A much more customer-focused approach is proposed to be introduced from February next year. The new network will see 38 ticket machines installed at key sites close to bus stops in the city centre, and a further 50 at district centres and places which generate high numbers of journeys, such as Trent Bridge cricket ground, Nottingham University and the Queens Medical Centre.

Initially, the ticket machines will be used to buy the multi-operator Kangaroo as single day tickets, a 10 day pass or to buy and top up Kangaroo season tickets which are available for one, three, six and 12 months. Travel tickets will sit on the Citycard, the City’s travel, library, leisure and retail discount card.

Customers will also be able to top up and collect Kangaroo tickets at around 180 shops in and around the city through the Payzone network. Customers will be able to use debit or credit cards at all of the kiosks, whilst travel centres and Payzone outlets will accept cards and cash.

There will also be an improvement in online sales, allowing people to buy travel and top up Citycards remotely. Once a purchase has been made online, the customer can collect the ticket at any of the kiosks on the network.

The retail network has been developed so that other operator tickets could be sold onto a Citycard if local transport operators later want to make this option available to their customers.

The network of kiosks will be funded through Local Sustainable Transport Fund money the City Council receives from Government.

Early in 2014, ticket machines are also to be introduced on all tram stops which will issue tram tickets and Kangaroo tickets. Tramlink announced when they took over the NET concession in 2011 that ticket machines would be introduced in the run-up to the expansion of the network, in line with other tram systems around the world. Further details will be announced once arrangements have been finalised and a firm implementation date is known.

Once the first phase of the council’s retail network scheme has been implemented, a new ‘e-purse’ is to be developed, available from the new retail network, which will guarantee the best fare for whatever journey is taken, with the maximum fare being the Kangaroo day ticket price. This is planned for introduction in November 2014.

Councillor Jane Urquhart, Nottingham City Council’s Portfolio Holder for Planning and Transport, said: “These improvements will make travelling by public transport in Nottingham even better. By making tickets available more easily online and at kiosks and outlets in and around the city, public transport becomes a more appealing way to travel for even more people.

“These proposals come as Nottingham’s tram network is changing and expanding, with the tram operator preparing to introduce new self-serve ticket machines with easy-to-use screens, located at tram stops, enabling passengers to buy tickets more quickly to board the city’s trams. Overall, these new developments will help to consolidate Nottingham’s public transport network as among the best in Europe.”