Carl Sargeant, Welsh Government Minister for Local Government and Communities, launched GoCymru, the transport e-purse for Wales, on January 31 at Wrexham Bus Station.
One of the key selling points of the e-purse is the ability to allow passengers to register for Auto Top Up (ATU). This means passengers always have the ability to pay for travel as the card will automatically be topped up if it drops below a pre-set amount. This is then collected from their bank account.
This is the first phase of the national roll out by the Welsh Government. MVA Consultancy is providing technical and commercial support, including evaluation of the technology and the public perceptions of an electronic payment means before it is more widely rolled out.
Vivien Collins of the Welsh Government said: “The launch of this pilot is an important step towards deployment of GoCymru throughout Wales and MVA has provided an invaluable contribution to its development.”
Jeremy Meal, Director of Smart Card and Ticketing Strategies at MVA Consultancy, said: “This milestone in the development of smart ticketing in Wales is testament to the commitment shown by the Government to the ITSO specification and an indication of the flexible options available to schemes for deployment according to priorities agreed nationally which are relevant and beneficial to public transport customers in Wales.”
