Passengers travelling on public transport services in the Italian city of Genoa can now use their physical debit or credit card or a digital version stored in an NFC wallet to make contactless fare payments for bus journeys on its urban network and on Volabus and Airlink airport bus services.

To use the new ticketing system, passengers simply tap their physical or digital bank card on either a ‘smart totem’ installed at selected bus stops or an on-board ‘smart validator’ for airport services.

Public transport provider Azienda Mobilità e Trasporti (AMT) is piloting the open loop contactless ticketing system — known as Instant Lane Access (ILA) — which also enables users to pay the fares of up to four people with a single payments card and ensures that they pay “the best fare proposals” according to the duration of the journey and the number of passengers.

“Thanks to the live set-up, for the first time in Italy, the system offers users the possibility to access, through their contactless payment tool, rates dedicated to groups, such as the 24-hour ticket for four people or the rate dedicated to the Volabus for three people,” AMT says.

“This aspect represents a fundamental distinctive feature compared with the solutions implemented in other cities.”

Passenger experience

“This innovative solution improves the travel experience, above all it facilitates access to services by tourists who can use even more easily the articulated public transport network managed by AMT to discover the city and its territory,” AMT adds.

“The experimentation, for now focused on the areas of the city of Genoa, will be used to collect ideas and evaluation elements for its possible extension, also within the framework of the initiatives envisaged by the Liguria region.”

To date, AMT has installed its ILA smart totems at 10 bus stops across the Genoese urban network, plans to add another 20 “by the summer” and “envisages a total of 45 totems and smart ILA validators that will be progressively installed” during the pilot scheme.

“To encourage use of the system, some validity of tickets purchased with the new system have been increased,” AMT adds.

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