Member Article

Pop onto the metro - new system unveiled

Nexus yesterday announced that it is investing £15m into the modernisation of Metro travel with the introduction of a new smart ticketing operation.

The new travelcard, similar to that of London underground’s ‘oyster’, will be called pop.

Nexus passengers will start to get their regular Metro season tickets and under 16 identification cards replaced with Pop cards from March.

Over the next year a phased rollout will allow more and more people to travel with a Pop card.

The functionality will develop into a full ‘pay as you ride’ option on Metro with stored cash balance on cards in 2012.

Bernard Garner, Director General of Nexus, said: “Smartcards will soon be used by hundreds of thousands of public transport users, and we are one of the first regions in the UK to fully embrace the future of travel.

“The Pop card will make using public transport so much easier than now, and opens the way for people to get better value and pay more flexibly.”

The modernisation will include the replacement of 225 Metro ticket machines and the introduction of gates at key stations and ‘smart’ validators across the system.

Plans for Pop cards to also be used on busses are in the pipeline with an array of further initiatives for the smartcards use being discussed, including the possibility of paying for parking your car.

Mr Garner added: “By moving to this new technology it means we can reduce the cost of actually issuing tickets because we are not issuing loads of paper tickets.

“So there is a saving that we can pass onto our customers.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Ruth Mitchell .