Nottingham goes contactless with new multi-operator Tap & Go option

Credit: Nottingham City Council

Nottingham City Transport (NCT), Nottingham Express Trams (NET) and the Linkbus network operated by CT4N have rolled out a Tap & Go payment option across Nottingham – allowing public transport users in the city to pay a single daily capped charge across the majority of the city’s buses and trams using their chosen contactless payment method. The rollout represents the first Oyster-style contactless ticketing system in the UK outside of London.

The new Nottingham Contactless multi-operator Tap & Go option allows people to tap on with contactless bank cards or phones throughout the day and pay one daily charge capped at the best fare for their travel, regardless of which of the three operators they use or however many journeys they make on the day.

In order to develop the technology needed for this payment option, Nottingham City Council successfully bid for £2.7 million from the Department for Transport’s (DfT) National Productivity Fund and Transforming Cities Programme. The main benefits of Nottingham’s Tap & Go are:

• Effortless cashless payments
• No fumbling for change or having to find out fares for each operator before travelling
• Fares capped at the best for the day’s travel across three main local operators
• Quicker boarding will help to make public transport an even more attractive travel option.

Passengers can still pay contactless for single fares; or, if they make multiple journeys across NCT, NET and Linkbuses, they will be charged a capped fare of £5.60 for the day. 

In-Depth Focus: Ticketing & Payments

Since Nottingham Contactless first launched for journeys on individual operators in 2020, three million taps have been made. This new additional multi-operator capping is designed to encourage people to travel more easily and flexibly without worrying how much they will be charged, or having to decide what ticket they need in advance.

This stage of the new system’s development lays the foundation for future roll-out across the wider city region and to more operators. The City Council is working with DfT and regional partners – including Transport for West Midlands (TfWM) and Midlands Connect – to integrate all operators including trentbarton and train operating companies (TOCs).

NCT’s Strategic Projects Manager, Nicola Tidy, said: “Contactless payments have revolutionised the way that people pay for travel on NCT buses and, by expanding Nottingham Contactless so that customers benefit from Robin Hood price caps when they travel across NCT, NET and Linkbuses, paying for travel around Nottingham is now even more convenient.”

NET’s Chief Operating Officer, Andrew Conroy, said: “Anything that makes travel more convenient is to be welcomed – with Nottingham Contactless, people don’t need to carry change or worry about knowing the fare. It helps people to make whole journeys across different transport operators effortlessly. We hope that it will help to encourage more people to choose NET to get in and around Nottingham.”