Dallas Latest City in U.S. to Accept Open-Loop Fare Payments
Dallas Area Rapid Transit, or DART, has become the latest transit agency in the U.S. to accept contactless open-loop payments, joining just four other U.S. agencies that support the technology, not counting small open-loop pilots happening in California.
Germany’s Largest Transit Operator Continues with Large Open-Loop Pilot on Buses; No Decision Yet on Rollout
Germany’s largest transit operator, BVG, said it’s pilot of contactless EMV payments extends to all of its nearly 1,500 buses, and the company has eliminated cash acceptance on board the vehicles, a spokesman confirmed to Mobility Payments. But officials in Berlin have not yet decided whether to make the contactless payments service permanent, he added.
UK Bus Operator Go-Ahead Reports Cash Usage has Plummeted Because of Covid, While Contactless Transactions have Surged
The Go-Ahead Group, one of the big five privately owned public bus operators in the UK, said today it has seen cash usage on board the nearly 3,000 buses it runs in England outside of London fall to 23% of transactions, down from 53% three years ago.
Cal-ITP: Agencies in California Could Hold ‘Several More’ Open-Loop Fare Payments Pilots
The California Integrated Travel Project, or Cal-ITP, is “on track to have at least several more” open-loop pilots or demonstration projects, a spokeswoman for the program told Mobility Payments.
Australia’s Transport for New South Wales Sees ‘Significant Increase’ in Use of Mobile Wallets by Riders
Mobile wallets now make up more than half of all contactless payments for Transport for New South Wales, Australia’s largest transit agency, the agency confirmed to Mobility Payments.
Start-Up Aims to Encourage More Taxi Drivers to Accept Bank Cards for Fares in Turkey
A Turkish start-up hopes to entice more taxi drivers to accept contactless credit and debit cards using SoftPOS terminals on Android smartphones, under a scheme being rolled out by the local fintech.
Demand Growing for Tap On/Tap Off Fare Payments on UK Buses
More UK bus operators outside of London are expanding their contactless open-loop payments services to enable customers to tap on when they board and tap off at their desired stops, helping to save riders money and collect more data for operators
Another Italian City Launches Open-Loop Fare Payments
Italy continues to be a leader in the rollout of open-loop fare payments with even mid-tier cities now introducing the technology to riders.
Visa Touts Growth in Contactless, Continues to Push Open-Loop Payments
Visa reported this week that contactless payments continued to climb as a percentage of all face-to-face transactions with its brand at retail, and among the uses the network is continuing to push for contactless payments is to pay transit fares.
WMATA in D.C. Rolling Out New Terminals but has No Immediate Plans to Support Open Loop
The Washington (D.C.) Metropolitan Area Transit Authority last month started to replace 1,200 aging faregates for its 91-station metro system and starting next year will do the same with 20-plus year-old fareboxes on board 1,500 buses, including upgraded readers for its closed-loop SmarTrip cards.