Arriva launches TOTO contactless payments scheme in North Wales

Credit: Arriva

Arriva has announced that it has launched Tap On-Tap Off (TOTO) contactless payments in North Wales – giving customers a new quick and easy way to pay for bus travel at the best price. 

Arriva bus passengers in North Wales and cross boarder in and out of Chester are now benefitting from the TOTO scheme, which enables adult passengers to track their spending through contactless payments and ensures daily and weekly fare capping. 

Following the successful rollout of contactless payment onboard all Arriva buses in 2019, the company has worked in partnership with Transport for Wales (TfW) to install a second contactless card reader across its entire fleet of over 170 buses serving North Wales.

This requires passengers to tap on using a credit/debit card or with Google Pay or Apple Pay on the driver’s ticket machine when boarding the bus, then tapping again on the second card reader when getting off – leaving Arriva to work out the best value adult fare.

Customers can travel freely and are automatically charged for the journey that they make. If customers make several trips in one day, their fare will be capped at the daily adult ticket price; those who travel several days per week pay a fare capped at the adult weekly ticket price.

Removing the need to state the destination and paying when boarding will significantly reduce boarding times for customers, ensuring that buses leave stops on time and maintain punctuality.

“The Tap On-Tap Off (TOTO) scheme makes bus journeys simpler, giving customers peace of mind knowing that they will be charged the best value Arriva fare, whether they make a single journey or multiple journeys,” said Richard Hoare, Commercial Director at Arriva. “A partnership between Arriva and Transport for Wales has led to the successful implementation of the TOTO scheme for Arriva products, and we look forward to evolving our ticketing partnership between other operators by adding the OneBus ticket range to TOTO during 2022.”

James Price, Transport for Wales’ Chief Executive, said: “We’re delighted to be collaborating with Arriva by providing our technology and insights for the Tap On-Tap Off scheme. It perfectly aligns with TfW’s aims of making public transport as accessible, easy and affordable as possible for everyone, and I’m sure that it will be welcomed by customers across North Wales and the borders.”