Palm Bus passengers in Cannes, France, now benefiting from contactless EMV ticketing

Credit: Littlepay

Passengers travelling on the Palm Bus network in Cannes, France, can now benefit from contactless EMV (cEMV) ticketing, following the public launch of the new technology on 11 April 2022. The Cannes Lérins Agglomération supports this modernisation of the ticketing system, in collaboration with Palm Bus, Kuba, Littlepay and La Banque Postale.

Following the launch, riders across the network of over 200 buses will be able to pay for trips with a contactless bank card (Visa, Mastercard) or using their smartphone (Apple Pay, Google Pay or Samsung Pay). The city sees this fuss-free transit payment experience, which doesn’t require knowledge of local ticketing systems, as a vital improvement for both residents and the many tourists that visit the city during its annual film festival and peak Summer season.

Frederic Marandon, DGA Mobility of the Cannes pays de Lérins Agglomération, says: “The deployment of the open payment solution in our region is the result of a long-standing collaboration between our agglomération, our transport company Palm Bus and our technology partner Kuba. The addition of this service, with the support of Littlepay, responds to our mission to simplify access to public transport for our regular and occasional customers.”

A fare inspection app has also been developed, which will be used to deter fare evasion. This is installed on NFC-compatible Android mobile devices, which Palm Bus’ fare inspection staff can use to check passengers’ cards against a list of known taps. The app removes the need for expensive, PCI-compliant fare inspection hardware to establish whether passengers are travelling with a valid cEMV ‘token’ for travel.