No more paper tickets in Public Transport – How will payments be made?

The pilot application of the contactless payment system by bank card on the buses of the Express lines of the Athens International Airport has begun.

One advanced contactless transaction system will be installed on all the Public transport (Buses, Trolley, Metro, Tram) up to end of 2024 resulting in passengers not searching ticket offices so that they can use them while at the same time there will be an end to ticket evasion which records rising recent years.

In fact, from Wednesday, April 24, the system of contactless payments with bank card and digital wallet through the activated devices (smartphones, smartwatches) started to be implemented as a pilot on the buses of the lines Express of Athens International Airport (AIA).

However, its passengers Express line they don’t currently have the possibility of paying a reduced ticket intact as the usage application is not complete.

The new service was presented at a special event at Zappeio Megaro by the Minister of Infrastructure and Transport, Mr. Christos Staikourasthe Deputy Minister of Infrastructure and Transport, responsible for Transport Ms Christina Alexopoulouthe General Secretary of Transport Mr. Yannis Xifarasthe CEO of Hyperfund Mr. Grigoris Dimitriadis, the CEO of OASA Mr. George Spiliopoulosthe Deputy CEO of TERNA ENERGY Mr. George Agrafiotis and the General Manager of Greece, Israel, Malta and Cyprus for Visa Ms Sevi Vassileva and the General Manager of NBG Pay Mr. Christoforos Hatzopoulos.

The alternative possibility of use bank card (debit, credit, or prepaid) for boarding Mmmmarks the entry of of Athens Communications in a new one digital era for the transport services provided to the passenger public.

Passengers, except ATH.ENA Ticket the ATH.ENA Cardcan from today, use a bank card, or the cards on their activated devices (smartphones the smartwatch) to board buses of the lines AIA Express (X93, X95, X96, X97). The payment cards issued by authorized institutions are also included.

THE OASA, under contract with Hellas Smart Ticket SA, its subsidiary TERNA ENERGYin collaboration with LG CNS and with her support Visa and her NBG Pay, developed its application pilot system contactless transactions on the specific bus lines, with expansion horizon of the project at total urban transport of the capital, until fees of 2024.

Passengers moving to and from Athens International Airportthey can now alternatively pay their ticket contactless by swiping it their bank card, above the bus validating machines with the relevant indication of contactless transactions.

The equipment installed on the selected buses “reads” her card or the digital wallet and charges the value of the route to account of the passenger.

With this new service, the Athena is included in the list of European citieslike the Madrid, the Milan, and London which enable the passengers to move with simple, safe and comfortable way, contributing to the increase in the use of Mmm.

Public urban transport will play a crucial role in development of smart cities and facilitating user movements, with contactless payments (tap & pay) to offer a safe and unhindered experience for passengers and transport system operators looking for easy, direct and secure access to these services.

The benefits for the passenger

With its application use of bank cards for boarding MMMs, the passenger public you won’t need to:

– Get a ticket through publishing houses or publishing machines (AMEK).

– To know the available moving products 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 saleor wait in queues to buy a ticket, in order to travel by public transport.

The Minister of Infrastructure and Transport, Mr. Christos Staikourassaid about the implementation of the contactless transaction system in urban transport: “The support contactless payments at Public transport is one of the ten priorities which we had raised during the reading of the Government’s program statements.

This project adapts them public transport at modern timespromotes smart mobility, facilitates public transport passengers and encourages further the use them from them citizens, but also the visitors of the capital, limits it travel costsand contributes to increasing the revenue of transport operators.

In the first phase, the “tap & pay» will be applied to their vehicles Airport Express Bus Lineswhile all applications will be available to passengers until end of 2024.

Until then, the efforts made by the will be more visible to the citizens Ministry of Infrastructure and Transportation for the modernization of means of public transportas in a few weeks routes will start on the streets of Athens 140 new electric buses.

After new vehicles and the new services we prove in practice that we implement the plan we have draw up

We are gradually forming one sustainable urban mobility environment in the capital, creating infrastructures and developing services that will serve citizens for many years to come.”

For her part, the Deputy Minister of Infrastructure and Transport, responsible for Transport, Ms Christina Alexopoulou he emphasized that: “With the installation of the specific system in Public transport is expected reduction of ticket evasionwhich will lead to increase in revenue their. We are digitizing them services and we simplify the procedures for the benefit of citizens and we plan the further utilization of the technology for the significant improvement of movements and the reduction of the environmental footprint”.

The Secretary General of Transport, Yannis Xifaraspointed out that: “The contactless payments significantly facilitate their daily life regular passengers of urban transport, but also the visitors of our city. At the same time, they unlock the interoperability of its transports of Athens with other mobility applications. So we are given the opportunity to combined movements with in and out of it OASA, with one 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 a service which he may not use in the end. So we can say that it eliminates the time to wait in queues for renewals cards and ticket issuance, costs are reduced of our movements and new possibilities open up combined transport».

For his part, the Managing Director of the Superfund, Mr. Grigoris Dimitriadisreported: “The transportation her Athens are changing. They are moving into a new era. They are becoming more digital and more user friendly by adopting new technology which provide greater freedom and make it easier for passengers. This evolution is part of its overall strategy Superfund which emphasizes the modernization of public interest enterprises. In cooperation with reliable partners, we are proceeding gradually digital transformation of Mmm with the aim of improving the daily life of citizens and strengthening the most environmentally friendly urban transport”.

The CEO of OASA, Mr. George Spiliopouloshe emphasized: “A very important page opens today for the public transport of the capital. The first part of the system implementation is put into use contactless transactions for each MMM boarding competence OASA. Another step in the digital transformation of Athens’ urban transport. The Athens transportfollowing developments in advanced transport systems, are now added to the list of European metropolitan bodies that apply practices of smart cities (London, Brussels, etc.) With the technological upgrade of the ticketing and issuing information system of OASA,, 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 progress of the project, its Deputy CEO TERNA ENERGYK. George Agrafiotisnoted: “Adaptation and evolution are the core and excellence of PPP against the of Public Works, in projects of multi-year operation and maintenance, as there are constant improvements and modernization, due to the 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 and expand to all its means OASA. At the same time, TERNA ENERGY completed the production of the Thessaloniki e-ticket software and the installation in the middle of the co-capital begins, solving with the same efficiency the interoperability with its systems SUBWAY her Thessaloniki, so that they will be ready for its scheduled start-up”.

Mrs Sevi VassilevaGeneral Manager of Greece, Israel, Malta and Cyprus for Visastated “The new system contactless payments marks the beginning of a different travel experience in Mmm. Simpler, faster and easier for those who live, work and visit Athens. The contactless payments at Mmm they contribute to the creation of more efficient and sustainable cities, while they are an indispensable option for the routing of solutions that combine safety and comfort. In over 750 Visa urban mobility projects globally we are seeing increasing and more intensive participation, with contactless payments being key to facilitating access and use of Mmm».

Mr. Christoforos Hatzopoulosits General Manager NBG Paynoted: “We are very proud of her innovative service which creates new data in urban mobility & upgrading the operation of transport in our country. We continue to monitor industry trends digital payments and to adapt to the needs of the market”.

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