Contactless enabled debit, credit and charge cards (CPC’s) can now be used to pay fares on London buses. These cards will function in a similar fashion to an Oyster card, Transport for London’s (TFL) closed loop prepaid transit card. CPC’s will use the pre-existent Oyster card readers.
Although CPC’s will carry the same reduced fare as an Oyster card of GBP1.35, the card can only be use for single journeys and the daily price caps will not apply. Neither travelcard’s nor season tickets can be added to a CPC and certain heritage routes won’t carry the service.
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Boris Johnson, the London mayor, said: "Lots of us have had the frustrating experience of dashing to board a bus only to discover that our Oyster card has run out of credit. So the arrival of this latest technology is welcome news, meaning that with a simple touch of a contactless payment card, people can avoid having to scrabble for change and also still benefit from the Oyster fare discount."
The Greater London Assembly had previously expressed concerns that Oyster card passengers were not made to pay more but announced they felt that these fears had been addressed.
TFL spokesperson confirmed they were hoping to expand the service to the London Underground by the late of 2013.
Global Technology company Cubic worked on the infrastructure, whilst Barclaycard will be acting as acquirer.
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