“Premiere” today for the pilot application of the contactless payment system with bank card and digital wallet, through activated devices (smartphones, smartwatches) on the buses of the lines Athens International Airport Express (IAA), while by the end of the year it will be available for passengers, in all MMMs of OASA responsibility (buses, trolleys, metro, tram).
The new application was presented, today, at a special event at Zappeio Megaro, by the Minister of Infrastructure and Transport, Christos Staikouras, the Deputy Minister of Infrastructure and Transport, responsible for Transport, Christina Alexopoulou, the Secretary General of Transport, Yannis Xifaras, the managing director of the Superfund, Grigoris Dimitriadis, the CEO of OASA, George Spiliopoulosthe deputy CEO of TERNA ENERGY, George Agrafiotis and the general manager of Greece, Israel, Malta and Cyprus for Visa Sevi Vassileva and the general manager of NBG Pay, Christoforos Hatzopoulos.
The alternative possibility of using a bank card (debit, credit or prepaid) to board MMM, in addition to the classic ticket, marks the entry of Athens transport into a new digital era for the transportation services provided to the passenger public.
In particular, the passengers, except ATH.ENA Ticket the ATH.ENA Card, from today, they can use a bank card or the cards on their activated devices (smartphone or smartwatch) to board AIA Express buses (X93, X95, X96, X97). Payment cards issued by authorized institutions are also included. Thus, passengers traveling to and from Athens International Airport can now alternatively pay for their ticket contactless by swiping their bank card over the bus validation machines with the relevant indication of contactless transactions.
Equipment installed on selected buses “reads” the card or digital wallet and charges the value of the trip to the passenger’s account.
The benefits for the passenger
With the implementation of the use of bank cards for boarding MMMs, the passenger public will not need to:
– To procure a ticket through the issuing offices or the issuing machines (AMEK).
– To know the available moving products in order to choose the appropriate one. The system in its full development will charge the passenger the most economical fare product, based on their movements. An extremely useful feature for passengers who are not familiar with the Athens transportation system, such as visitors from other cities and tourists.
– To look for points of sale or to wait in queues to buy a ticket in order to travel by MMM.
OASA, within the framework of a contract with Hellas Smart Ticket SA, a subsidiary of TERNA ENERGY, in collaboration with LG CNS and with the support of Visa and NBG Pay, developed the application of the pilot system of contactless transactions on the specific bus lines, with a horizon extension of the project to all the urban transport of the capital, until the end of 2024.
With this new service, Athens joins the list of European cities, such as Madrid, Milan, and London, that enable passengers to move in a simple, safe and comfortable way, contributing to the increase in the use of public transport.
Staikouras: We are proving in practice that we are implementing the plan we have drawn up
The Minister of Infrastructure and Transport, Christos Staikouras, emphasized: “Supporting contactless payments in Mass Transportation is one of the ten priorities we set when reading the government’s policy statements.
This project:
– adapts urban transport to the modern era, promotes smart mobility, facilitates public transport passengers,
– further encourages their use by citizens, as well as visitors to the capital, limits travel costs, and contributes to increasing the revenue of transport operators.
In the first phase, “tap & pay” will be applied to the vehicles of the Airport Express bus lines, while all applications will be available to passengers by the end of 2024.
Until then, the effort made by the Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport to modernize public transport will be more visible to citizens, as in a few weeks the 140 new electric buses will start running on the streets of Athens.
With the new vehicles and the new services we prove in practice that we are implementing the plan we have drawn up.
We are gradually shaping an environment of sustainable urban mobility in the capital, creating infrastructure and developing services that will serve citizens for many years to come.”.
The Deputy Minister of Transport, Christina Alexopoulou, emphasized: “With the installation of the specific system in the means of public transport, a reduction in ticket evasion is expected, which will lead to an increase in their revenues”. “We Digitize” pointed out, characteristically, the deputy minister, “the services and we simplify the procedures for the benefit of the citizens and we plan the further exploitation of the technology to significantly improve the movements and reduce the environmental footprint”.
The general secretary of Transport, Yiannis Xifaras, noted: “Contactless payments significantly facilitate the daily life of regular passengers of urban transport, as well as visitors to our city. At the same time, they unlock the interoperability of Athens transport with other mobility applications. We are therefore given the possibility for combined movements with and outside the OASA, with a single fare. Particularly important, however, is the automatic selection of the cheapest fare package by the system itself for the passenger, without him having to prepay for a service that he might not use in the end. So we can say that the time spent waiting in queues for card renewals and issuing tickets is eliminated, the cost of our movements is reduced and new possibilities of combined transport are opened up”.
For his part, the managing director of the Superfund, Grigoris Dimitriadis, said: “Athens transportation is changing. They are moving into a new era. They are becoming more digital and more user-friendly, adopting new technologies that provide greater freedom and facilitate passengers. This evolution is part of the overall strategy of the Superfund, which emphasizes the modernization of public interest enterprises. In cooperation with reliable partners, we are proceeding with the gradual digital transformation of MMMs, with the aim of improving the daily life of citizens and strengthening the most environmentally friendly urban transport.”
The managing director of OASA, George Spiliopoulos, said among other things: “A very important page opens today for the capital’s urban transport. The first part of the implementation of the contactless transaction system is put into use for each boarding of MMM under OASA responsibility. Another step in the digital transformation of Athens’ urban transport. With the technological upgrade of the OASA ticketing and ticketing information system, the level of service for millions of our fellow citizens who use public transport every day for their movements is significantly improved.”
Referring to the implementation of the project, the deputy managing director of TERNA ENERGY, Giorgos Agrafiotis, noted: “Adaptation and evolution is the core and superiority of PPPs over public projects, in projects of multi-year operation and maintenance, as there are constant improvements and modernization, due to different temporal and technological circumstances. We are starting today as a pilot with the airport line and within the year we will complete the installation, expanding to all means of OASA. At the same time, TERNA ENERGY completed the production of the Thessaloniki e-ticket software and the installation is starting in the middle of the co-capital, solving with the same efficiency the interoperability with the METRO systems of Thessaloniki, so that they will be ready for its scheduled opening”.
Sevi Vassileva, general manager of Greece, Israel, Malta and Cyprus for Visa, spoke “for the beginning of a different travel experience in MMM, simpler, faster and easier for those who live, work and visit Athens. Contactless payments in MMMs contribute to the creation of more efficient and sustainable cities, while they are a necessary option for the deployment of solutions that combine security and convenience.” In fact, he said that in over 750 Visa urban mobility projects worldwide, increasing and more intensive participation is observed, “with contactless payments being the key to facilitating the access and use of MMMs”.
Finally, Christoforos Hatzopoulos, general manager of NBG Pay, pointed out: “We are very proud of the innovative service that creates new data in urban mobility and upgrading the operation of transportation in our country. We continue to monitor trends in the digital payments industry and adapt to market needs.”
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