Regional transport authority pioneers new technology.
Technology that works out how a passenger can best make their journey and which is the most suitable ticket is being developed under a Centro pilot project.
Centro’s journey planner is part of a €4 million European Union project called MobiWallet to improve smart ticketing technology. The project will be integrated with the Swift smartcard system to improve the current journey planner, calculate the best ticket for the journey and enable its purchase through a mobile phone or on-street reader.
Sandeep Shingadia, Centro head of scheme development, said: “The system will offer you a range of ticket options as you plan your journey on your smartphone. You will be able to pay for the ticket and then load it on to your Swift card either via an app or a reader.
“Smart ticketing is moving forward at such a fast pace and it won’t be long before schemes like this will be an everyday occurance for millions of bus, rail, and tram passengers across Europe.”
MobiWallet is a two year scheme taking place in Novi Sad in Serbia, Tuscany in Italy and Santander in Spain as well as Birmingham and is scheduled to last until July 2016.
Representatives from the three overseas areas recently visited Centro’s Birmingham offices for a demonstration of how its scheme would work.
