New Zealand Auckland Transport has announced some bus firms are taking up its new ticketing technology.
Thales hardware systems are being installed on Ritchie’s, Howick and Eastern, Urban Express, Bayes and Birkenhead Transport bus fleets from April. This takes the industry another step towards creating an integarated ticketing system across Auckland’s bus, train and ferry systems.
Director of Ritchie’s Transport, Andrew Ritchie, said the move gives greater customer choice. “I think it’s really positive and a good step forward. We’ve got some clear direction now and we’re all looking forward to it and confident we’re going to have good delivery.”
However, Auckland Transport’s CEO Greg Edmonds can’t confirm exactly when the new system will be fully installed. He said: “It’s a difficult question to answer but I hope by August we’ll have it completely concluded.” NZ Bus will run on the Snapper system until the final introduction of ‘AT HOP’ when it will be phased out.
