Bus travel to go contactless

Kinchbus is launching a contactless payment service on its buses from 28th July.

The company says it now has the technology to correctly calculate fares and charge debit or credit cards automatically. 

Customers will be required to tap their card on a reader when they get on to a bus and tap it again when they get off. 

If customers make several trips, fares will be capped over 28 days. 

Kinchbus are the first regional bus company in the UK to roll-out the change which was introduced on London's underground system. 

The company said that during a recent trial in Derby, one in five customers opted to pay with their contactless debit or credit cards. Customer research by Kinchbus found that 80 per cent of customers have a contactless card. 

With more than 3.2million customer journeys each year, a similar 20 per cent take up across the Kinchbus network's 37 buses would see an average of more than 1,750 contactless payments made each day. 

Managing director Jeff Counsell said: "One in five is a huge number annually, but we only expect contactless to increase its share of payments over time.

“This is especially true for our system which, uniquely for a UK bus company, automatically charges the lowest possible fare given where customers get on and the stop they get off at. This beats the flat charge levied by other operators.

“With daily and 28-day caps too, our customers will have confidence that they are getting the best possible value for money every time they tap on and off a Kinchbus service.”

Do you have questions about the changes? Kinchbus answer all your questions here.