Vodafone and EPT launch NFC bus ticketing service in Murcia, Spain

“This is a new opportunity to put technology at the service of citizens, improve public transport and encourage its use,” says the region’s minister of public works.

EPT and Vodafone launch NFC in Murcia
MURCIA: Minister José Ballesta, EFA boss Jose Guillen and Vodafone CEO Julian Oncina launch the NFC ticketing service

Mobile phone operator Vodafone has teamed up with the regional government in Murcia, Spain, to introduce an NFC-based public transport payment system.

The initiative, promoted by the region’s public transport authority Entidad Pública del Transporte (EPT), allows Vodafone customers to pay their for their bus travel by using their NFC-enabled phone with contactless readers on all public buses in the regional fleet. NFC tags located at bus stops will also let passengers access up-to-date travel information including when the next bus is due.

José Ballesta, minister of public works and planning in the southern Spanish region, said the system would allow “time-saving and better flow of passengers on city and intercity buses, thereby improving service quality for users”.

In the future, the project may be expanded to include access to sporting, cultural and leisure facilities, to the region’s libraries and to bike rental services, Ballesta added.

“This is a new opportunity to put technology at the service of citizens, improve public transport and encourage its use and, ultimately, to continue investing in innovation and development of new software protocols to facilitate the thousands of Murcia residents who daily make use of the regional bus network,” he concluded.

The project is beginning with a pilot with the aim of then rolling out the system to a potential market of four million passengers.

The announcement follows a trial conducted by Vodafone with Spanish railway operator Renfe at the end of 2009 in the capital Madrid.

Meanwhile, earlier this month, Vodafone announced it had signed a cooperation agreement with its two biggest mobile network competitors in Spain, aimed at generating a stable NFC ecosystem and minimizing the risk of market fragmentation.

Under the terms of the agreement, Telefónica Movistar, Vodafone and Orange will work together to promote the development of mobile NFC services in Spain.

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One comment on this article

  1. Nice news. But this is not enough. The success of the introduction of a new technology is ALWAYS directly related to the acceptance of this technology by users …
    It would be interesting to understand what is the use case or in other words, what is the user’s experience using his NFC enabled mobile phone to pay his bus ticket: what he needs to to, how does it compare to buying a normal one way ticket, a monthly pass, which flexibility it gives the user …

    thanks

    dr. christian dugast

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