Hoeft & Wessel sets sights on contactless ticketing
29 September, 2011
category: Contactless, Transit
Hoeft & Wessel AG, an IT Group supplying ticketing, parking and mobile solutions in the UK and Germany, has announced that it will deliver contactless payment technology to trains and buses in its ticketing network.
Provided through H&W’s Almex brand, the ‘e-Ticketing’ system will enable commuters to use their EMV contactless credit cards to pay for fares with a simple tap – a process that H&W says amounts to less than half a second.
According to Wolf, the system will automatically determine the best fare for the customer upon completion of the journey – all they have to do it tap their card to get on, and once again to get off.
The system calls for high-end on-board computers with business line almex.optima integrated ticket printers and almex.smartfare electronic validators, which accept both MasterCard PayPass and Visa PayWave payments, as well as e-tickets compliant with the British ITSO standard.
The e-Ticketing solution deployed in the UK will be based on the latest version of ITSO 2.1.4, while in other European countries the system will operate under Calypso and VDV-KA standards.
H&W says they will soon equip FirstGroup, the largest private bus operator in the UK, with 4,000 new systems, with a further 1,500 planned for a later date.