Stagecoach brings smarter travel To Scotland
Scottish Transport Minister Keith Brown has welcomed the news that Stagecoach bus passengers in Scotland are to benefit from a new smartcard ticketing scheme which has been launched in west Scotland.
The StagecoachSmartcard scheme – which is now live across Stagecoach services in Glasgow, Ayrshire, Arran and Dumfries and Galloway – allows Stagecoach bus passengers to store their travel electronically on a smartcard instead of using paper tickets. For the first time, it also offers customers the chance to pay for their travel through hassle-free automatic payments.
The introduction of smart ticketing technology is another demonstration of Stagecoach’s commitment to making travel easier and more convenient for its customers.
Transport Minister Keith Brown said: “Stagecoach’s launch of commercial smart ticketing in south west Scotland, the first phase of a nationwide roll-out, is an exciting and welcome development for passengers. I hope to see other operators follow this lead so that commercial smart ticketing becomes widely available and that national ambitions are met to see a Scotland where all journeys on bus, rail, ferry, subway and tram networks can be accessed using some form of smart ticketing or payment.”
From now on, Stagecoach customers who purchase a one week or four week megarider or megarider Xtra ticket online will have their ticket sent out to them on a StagecoachSmart travel card with their travel loaded on to it. Thereafter they can add travel to their smartcard either online or on board the bus.
The launch of StagecoachSmart in west Scotland also offers passengers the chance to sign up to the company’s new Megarider Xtra ticket which allows monthly payments to be debited from the customer’s bank account on an agreed date each month, meaning they no longer have to renew their ticket manually. The customer’s Megarider Xtra ticket is stored on their StagecoachSmart travel card and simply remains valid for travel until the payment is cancelled.
In addition, to mark the launch of the StagecoachSmartcard, Stagecoach west Scotland is offering a 50% discount on weekly megarider tickets purchased online between 19 March 2014 and 2 April 2014. Customers must make their purchase through www.megaridersale/westscotland in order to receive the discount.
All tickets bought through the promotion will be issued to customers on a StagecoachSmart travel card which stores the tickets electronically rather than using a paper ticket.
Once customers have a StagecoachSmart card they can load their bus tickets on to it time and time again.
Managing director of Stagecoach west Scotland, Edward Hodgson, said: “We carry over 31 million bus passengers a year and we know we have a responsibility to our customers to continue introducing new technology and new ideas to improve their travel experience.
“This half-price offer is a great boost for passengers. It will also enable more people to take advantage of smart ticketing which is fast becoming an important part of everyday life for public transport users and we believe the launch of this new technology will help encourage even more people to try our greener, smarter bus services.”
Stagecoach Group has introduced StagecoachSmart travel cards at virtually all of its bus companies in England and was also the first major operator to accept concessionary smartcard transactions on every one of its buses outside London. More than 240 million journeys are now made each year on Stagecoach bus and rail services using smartcards.
More information about Stagecoach UK bus services can be found at www.stagecoachbus.com
