Passengers travelling on bus and trolleybus services across the Tampa Bay region of Florida in the US can now make contactless fare payments using their physical contactless credit, debit or prepaid card or via Apple Pay or Google Pay on their NFC smartphone or wearable.

Pinellas Suncoast Transit Authority (PSTA), Hillsborough Area Regional Transit Authority (HART) and TheBus have rolled out an open loop contactless ticketing system that includes fare capping to ensure that passengers making multiple journeys on services across the region pay no more than a US$5 daily limit.

Passengers will also still be able to opt to make contactless fare payments with the existing reloadable prepaid Flamingo Fares transit card or mobile app, the agencies say.

“Contactless payments will make navigating our region much simpler for the tens of thousands of tourists who visit all that Pinellas County and the Tampa Bay region has to offer,” PSTA CEO Brad Miller says.

“You can still pay with your Flamingo Fares card, but now have more options to use public transportation and reduce your carbon footprint.”

The city of Tampa announced in December that it is planning to pilot a Mobility-as-a-Service app that supports multimodal journey planning and digital ticketing.

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