The journey so far

The value of smart & integrated ticketing

The Scottish Government believes that investment in smart ticketing delivers a return on its objectives, due to its potential to reduce inequalities, support climate action and economic growth, and improve our health and wellbeing through increased use of sustainable public transport.

Simplifying the approach to ticketing and payment provision, and by providing the same experience for the customer, whether travelling on bus, train, ferry or light rail, for single or multi-modal journeys, mitigates the complexity for the passenger, which in turn, can support modal shift.

Smart ticketing and payment may also have the ability to provide increased certainty over costs and affordability of public transport by facilitating automatic fare capping within and between operators, as well as generally making using public transport easier to use and more accessible. It offers travellers choice in how they pay for their travel, which in turn can attract greater patronage. Smart ticketing also improves journey record accuracy in the Scottish Government’s concessionary travel scheme, helping to maintain the integrity of it, and for operators, smart ticketing can reduce queuing, enable quicker boarding times and can help make services more efficient.

Better journey planning and public transport open data can assist with modal shift and support economic growth, by providing consistent, integrated travel information, enabling digital booking and retail services, bringing improved passenger confidence and satisfaction.

Smart and Integrated Ticketing Survey 2023

Transport Scotland ran a public survey in spring 2023 to inform the development of this delivery strategy and to understand views on integrated ticketing, smart ticketing and payment types, journey planning and MaaS. It was distributed through social media, internal communication channels, and shared further by local news websites, community councils and schools. In total, there were 1,029 responses to the survey, providing insight that:

• Most respondents would like to use digital ticketing and Tap On (Tap Off) payments in future (64% and 56% respectively)
• 63% had used a smartcard for public transport in the past. 58% of these were not aware that any one smartcard could be used across multiple transport modes and operators
• Bus/coach and train users were the groups most satisfied with smart ticketing (61% and 60% respectively)
• Most popular factors to increase smart-ticketing use are simplicity, ease of set up, and reliability
• 64% of National Concessionary Travel Scheme respondents would like access to it on their smartphone
• 91% of respondents agreed that value for money would be likely to increase their use of integrated tickets
• The most highly valued features of a journey-planning app would be real-time travel information and live disruption alerts

Smart ticketing in Scotland

Smart travel is about providing modern, digital, or electronic options for tickets and/or payment when travelling on public transport, meeting passenger expectations for modern services. “Smart ticketing and payment” is the umbrella term for non-paper and non-cash ticketing and payment for transport. Further details on Scotland’s smart ticketing estate can be found on the smarttravel.scot website.

Smartcard

Scotland’s existing interoperable smart ticketing system is provided on ITSO. ITSO is the specification for most smartcards on public transport in Scotland. This uses chipped plastic cards that can store electronic ‘smart’ travel tickets. You can pre-purchase your travel tickets at a range of outlets (depending on your travel choice) including online, on board, or at ticket vending machines and load these onto the smartcard. The National Entitlement Card (NEC) is an ITSO smartcard and is used for the National Concessionary Travel Schemes. Smartcards can be used on bus, rail, tram, subway, ferry and air services. Smartcards can be obtained from operators or from www.getyournec.scot.

Mobile App

Bus, rail, ferry, air and tram operators offer mobile ticketing. An app is downloaded onto a smartphone, from which the user can purchase, store and use their ticket. Often the ticket is provided as a barcode so it can be validated.

Digital ticketing with barcodes is becoming more common in Scotland and complements contactless payment by providing a smart platform that can be used for pre-purchased tickets, such as day tickets. For example, ScotRail introduced digital tickets in 2021 and, in Glasgow, the multi-operator Tripper ticket was made available to purchase through operators’ own mobile apps in 2023. Within a couple of months of Tripper’s launch on mobile, sales increased five-fold with mobile ticket sales representing 80% of purchases (with 20% on smartcard) demonstrating the popularity of both mobile tickets and multi-operator travel options.

Contactless Payments

Contactless is a method of payment where payment is made using a bankcard without the need to enter a pin number. The contactless card is tapped against a terminal to pay for transactions, which is possible up to a limit, currently £100. This method of payment is becoming more prevalent on public transport. The purpose is to speed up boarding and increase convenience to both the passenger and the transport operator.

With support from the Scottish Government, contactless payment is now available on nearly all buses in Scotland. There are three different ticketing models; the most common, and on almost all buses in Scotland, is using contactless to purchase a physical paper ticket, and in some areas, contactless is used for Account Based Ticketing, for automatic fare capping and payment collected after travel. Another use of contactless is not yet used in Scotland but allows a pre-bought ticket (e.g. season ticket) or discount to be registered against the bankcard, which is recognised when the card is tapped.

Other modes, such as rail and ferry, use contactless for simple pre travel ticket purchasing at ticket outlets. The Glasgow subway is also set to introduce Tap In Tap Out contactless across its network.

Account Based Ticketing (ABT)

ABT is a type of ticket and payment system where a user taps or scans a token for travel (i.e. contactless bankcard/barcode/smartcard). The back-office system then records the journeys taken over a period (usually a day but can be weekly or other assigned time) resulting in the user being automatically charged for the most suitable ticket. ABT provides for automatic fare capping and is available on Lothian Buses in Edinburgh, and First Bus in Glasgow and Aberdeen. SPT is installing contactless Tap In Tap Out ABT on the subway, and Edinburgh Trams is integrating with Lothian Buses’ ABT system to provide automatic integrated fare capping.

This is the method used for travel on Transport for London (TfL) services, with contactless bankcard (either physical or digital card) or Oyster smartcard as the tokens. If ABT is in operation between different operators, generally a third-party system collects the ‘taps’ and establishes the revenue for each participating operator.

Integrated ticketing in Scotland

Commercial integrated ticketing products are primarily developed by operators but can be developed in agreement with local transport authorities. Sections 28 to 32 of the Transport (Scotland) Act 2001 (the “2001 Act”) require local transport authorities to keep under consideration what ticketing arrangements are needed in their area. The 2001 Act gives authorities a power to make ticketing arrangements through voluntary agreement with operators, or ticketing schemes whereby operators are required to put the ticketing arrangements in place. The 2019 Act contains provisions which, once commenced, will enhance these local transport authority duties so that ticketing arrangements and schemes can include connecting rail and ferry services with the agreement of the operators, and require ticketing schemes to be smart.

Figure 1 shows the extent of some larger integrated tickets available in Scotland, mostly providing integrated bus-to-bus travel, with ZoneCard including rail, bus and subway within its boundaries. The map includes Grasshopper in the Aberdeenshire area, ABC in Dundee and east Fife, One-Ticket across south east Scotland, ZoneCard in the SPT area, Tripper and Roundabout in Glasgow, and Ridacard in Edinburgh. The map also shows rail and sail routes from Aberdeen, Ullapool, Oban and around the Clyde, and PlusBus tickets at 16 towns and cities in Scotland. All offer tickets valid from one day up to a week, with some offering annual integrated tickets. These tickets are all offered on smartcard, with some available digitally.

Bus and rail tickets are available in specific locations or on specific routes and include PlusBus, RailBus, One-Ticket, Borders Explorer, and the Rail & City Bus Tour ticket. ScotRail also retail the ‘Spirit of Scotland’ ticket, which can be downloaded as a mobile pass, and provides unlimited travel on rail, connecting bus, subway and tram routes. PlusBus (a bus ticket added to a rail journey) is available on a smartcard in some locations.

Bus and ferry tickets are offered between Scotland and Northern Ireland and there are examples of buses that travel on ferries with passenger only needing to purchase the bus ticket, including the 506 and 507 routes that travel on the Corran Ferry.

Rail & Sail tickets are offered between ScotRail, CalMac, NorthLink and Stena Line and provide through-ticket travel for most connecting services.

Risks and challenges

The commercial transport market in Scotland

The bus industry operates as a deregulated market where each operator has their own commercial objectives to manage when developing new smart technologies and integrated tickets. Therefore, operators have invested in systems that meet their requirements, and do not necessarily for future multi-modal aspirations, or are working with legacy systems that cannot be upgraded simply, which means ticketing technology is often incompatible without extensive upgrades.

The Scottish Government does not have the power to direct the types of smart and integrated ticketing in use or on offer across all modes and operators. However, bringing into force the remaining provisions of the 2019 Act will enhance the powers of local transport authorities and the Scottish Ministers in relation to smart and integrated ticketing and a technological standard.

Additionally, as most rail and ferry services are managed via contract with, or owned by, the Scottish Government there are opportunities to influence operators to provide a consistent and joined up approach for passengers.

Availability of suppliers

Overuse of one supplier can lead to delays in roll out and increase the risk of the supplier’s customers being locked into their specific product network. This can also cause a lack of competition, impacting the natural market dynamics. Bringing in smart ticketing technological standards, and use of open data standards, should help to open up the market for more flexibility and competition.

Rapid development of non-standardised technology

Whilst interoperable smartcard technology is available on most operators, popularity of contactless payments and digital barcode / QR codes has rapidly grown in recent years. However, there are currently no national multi-modal standards for digital barcode / QR ticketing or contactless payment across operators, which has limited integration of ticketing to date where operators are using different ticket machines and back-office providers with their own standards. Work is now progressing in the UK to enable universal barcodes.

This differing technology can bring disparity across the public transport network and confusion over ticket types. There is a balance to be struck between investing in new technologies across all modes to achieve long-term interoperability and familiarity for the passenger, whilst also remaining dynamic and flexible to grasp new opportunities, such as beacon, Bluetooth technology and location-based (GPS) ticketing and payment solutions, such as those being introduced in Denmark.

Expense

Smart ticketing technology can be expensive, particularly if requiring extensive new infrastructure such as ticket machines, ticket gates and back-office software. For example, on rail alone, the expansion of London’s Tap In Tap Out system to an extra 53 railway stations has been awarded £20 million by the Department for Transport (DfT), and £360 million has been earmarked for providing Tap In Tap Out across 700 English stations (DfT, 2023 and 2021). Feasibility studies, business cases, pilots and identification of intervention options will help to ensure value for money.

Finances

As a result of economic conditions, including from the impact of Covid and inflation, the financial situation of the Scottish Government is significantly challenged and this shows no sign of improvement in the foreseeable future. This reduces the funding available for projects to commence or continue and therefore all activities outlined in this strategy will be subject to strict value for money assessments and budgetary availability.

Reduced passenger numbers can also have an impact of the ability of operators to invest in new technology, which can lead to older ticket machines having their life extended. Whilst this can be more efficient for the operators, it can affect the rate at which tickets are modernised and the ability to integrate technology between operators.

Public investment for the commercial market

The Scottish Government must adhere to subsidy and competition laws when investing in technology or services for commercial operators in a de-regulated marketplace. To mitigate this risk, before any financial support or procurement commences, a full assessment of the rationale for intervention must be conducted to confirm value for taxpayers and the necessary role of the Scottish Government.

Fares simplification

Developments in smart and integrated ticketing would be boosted if fares were simplified and more consistent across Scotland, with coordination of commercial ticketing between operators. As such, the Fair Fares Review has recommended that options be considered and a business case developed for introducing a national and/or regional integrated ticket and fare structure. This work, along with that undertaken by NSTAB, must be considered in line with smart ticketing activity as a key dependency.

Opportunities

The consistency of ticketing and technology opens up new opportunities for ticketing

NSTAB was established in 2023, bringing together key stakeholders to advise on technological standards for smart ticketing. Agreeing a technological standard to ensure these technologies can work together could not only drive down costs and improve integration, but will help to drive increase ticketing consistency, help improve ticket availability for customers, allow customers to use the smart platform they prefer to use, and be key to truly achieving the Scottish Government’s vision for smart and integrated ticketing across Scotland.

There are also opportunities to be gained from ongoing work identifying a universal approach for barcode and contactless standards for ticketing. Improvements in mobile connectivity is also making mobile ticketing and payment more reliable and more available across Scotland.

Cost of living crisis places greater emphasis on best value

With passengers feeling increased cost pressures as a result of inflation, being reassured that they are always paying the best fare is vital. Therefore, smart ticketing that allows for automatic fare capping, such as Account Based Ticketing, is popular with passengers and currently being introduced by more operators, but it is not evenly spread across Scotland.

Greater awareness of fares also helps to combat poverty by enabling more cost-effective journeys to be taken and highlights the need for consistency of ticket pricing across different smart ticketing platforms and mediums to help improve cost predictability. Introducing standards for bus open data will help to increase the consistency and availability of bus information, including on fares, helping to improve the cost transparency of public transport, and enable passengers to make journeys that suit their requirements.

Helping accessibility

Smart ticketing can make transport more accessible to more users. Ultimately, having greater smart ticketing choice to suit personal needs, including advancements such as use of pay as you go or debit accounts linked to discounts, or more flexible tickets on offer to suit customer needs, or digital mobile apps meeting accessibility requirements, should help to improve the accessibility of ticketing for all users.

Changing marketplace

With free bus travel extended to young people, the user demographics of the National Concessionary Travel Scheme has been altered, and as such, the expectations of what and how it should be delivered have also changed. Identifying ways to further improve how people access and use the concessionary scheme is essential to ensure that the scheme delivers high satisfaction to its users.

Changing work patterns as a result of Covid has impacted season ticket sales contributing to the decline in smartcard usage for pre-purchase tickets. There has also been an upswing in use of contactless technology to avoid contagion from cash handling. Both these have further stimulated the growth of the availability of contactless and digital platforms and resulted in new tickets being introduced such as flexi tickets.

Achievements since 2018

Transport (Scotland) Act 2019 – National Smart Ticketing Advisory Board

NSTAB was established in 2023 and has commenced advising the Scottish Ministers on the future of smart ticketing in Scotland, including on a national technological standard for smart ticketing to enhance the foundation for smart integrated ticketing in Scotland, making smart ticketing more consistent and convenient for passengers.

NSTAB is comprised of operators of different modes, local transport authorities, regional transport partnerships, user and accessibility groups, and technical experts. NSTAB’s first three-year work programme was published in 2024, and annual reports will be completed to monitor the board’s progress. You can read more about NSTAB here - National Smart Ticketing Advisory Board | Transport Scotland

Rollout of smart ferry concessionary travel between the mainland and Orkney and Shetland

Following a soft launch in October 2023, smart ferry concessions were rolled out for all users on services to Orkney and Shetland in 2024. Concessionary ferry travel vouchers had only been available in a paper format and this project reduced process and costs, provided journey records, improved customer experience and brought Orkney and Shetland ferry concessionary travel in line with other modes.

Contactless Bank Cards

In 2018 the £1.1 million Smart Pay Grant Fund was launched, supported by the European Regional Development Fund, which enabled operators to accept contactless payment on buses. The fund closed in December 2022 and now 98% of buses in Scotland accept contactless payment, making it significantly easier for passengers to use buses. This also provides the infrastructure to allow fare capping on buses, should operators aspire to do so.

Smart Pay Grant Fund enabled almost 10 million contactless payments on buses between February 2019 and June 2024

Interoperability

Since 2019, people across Scotland can use just one ITSO smartcard for journeys across multiple modes and operators. Working together with operators to enable the technology it means that, for example, a ScotRail smart ticket can be loaded onto a National Entitlement Card or operator smartcard and has reduced the number of paper tickets and plastic smartcards being produced. On SPT subway in 2022/23, more than 780,000 journeys were made using third-party smartcards.

Mobility as a Service

In June 2019, the three year, £2 million MaaS Investment Fund (MIF) launched to test the viability of MaaS in Scotland, creating solutions to address known transport issues. Funds were awarded to HITRANS, Tactran, Dundee City Council, the University of St Andrews and SEStran. The MIF supported innovative, digital data-driven solutions, to provide people with better travel information, booking and payment for tickets, and easier access to simple and flexible transport options, with the goal of increasing sustainable travel. All pilots completed by late 2023, and findings will be used to inform future MaaS policy.

Young Persons Free Bus Travel Scheme

Free bus travel is available for those with a saltirecard on the grounds of age (60+), or disability, and since January 2022 all residents in Scotland under the age of 22. Now, nearly half of Scotland’s population has access to free bus travel using the ITSO smartcard platform.

Introduction of the Transport Scot Pass Collect App

In 2022 the Transport Scot Pass Collect App launched, aligning with the rollout of the Under 22s free bus travel scheme. The app allows existing, eligible concessionary cardholders to load the Young Persons Free Bus travel onto their smartcard, without having to apply for a new one. This app was enhanced in 2023 to enable ferry concession vouchers to be downloaded for eligible Orkney and Shetland islanders. The app has enabled over a total of 40,000 concessionary products to be downloaded to date, including for concessionary bus and ferry travel.

European Regional Development Fund (ERDF)

Transport Scotland was successful in gaining funding from the ERDF Low Carbon Travel and Transport Challenge Fund. As part of this fund, a target of demonstrating 130.8 million additional commercial smart journeys by the end of 2023 was set.

611 million additional smart journeys were recorded between February 2016 and January 2024, enabled by ERDF

Account Based Ticketing

ScotRail delivered an Account Based Ticketing pilot in January 2019 using ITSO smartcards linked to the customer’s bank account, allowing for tap in/tap out and automatic fare charging, although ultimately did not present good value for money due to required level of investment in legacy infrastructure across the estate. Following advancement in technology, ScotRail will commence a trial using a mobile app and barcode ‘check in, check out’ system which seeks to improve passenger convenience, but compared to the previous trial, looks to have lower operating costs.

Commercial ticketing services

Transport Scotland supported smaller bus operators and NorthLink Ferries to implement smartcards for their commercial smart tickets and a ‘pay as you go’ e-purse. Some of these are still in operation, although now contactless payment and mobile tickets have become more popular, this has reduced the need for some commercial smartcard products.

ITSO technical enhancements

In 2023 work commenced to enhance the data being received from concessionary travel transactions, providing better data on boarding and alighting locations to help improve the reimbursement process. This is due to complete in 2024.

Local authority support services

A mobile app was developed and piloted in Renfrewshire and Falkirk during 2019 which provided the local authority the ability to load local concessionary bus travel tickets onto Young Scot smartcards. This solution improved social mobility by delivering targeted local smart-entitlements to tackle inequalities, improve attainment and challenge rural poverty without stigma.

Capacity information

In September 2021 and in response to Covid, Transport Scotland completed the ‘How Busy is My Bus’ project where over 60% of bus operators provided data indicating on-board seating capacity information for passengers to improve their ability to plan their journey more effectively and travel safely.

Covid Track & Trace

Transport Scotland tested the implementation of QR codes on public transport as part of the NHS Scotland Test and Protect contact tracing scheme during the Covid pandemic. This allowed passengers to ‘check in’ when boarding public transport and be notified if they have been near to a person testing positive for the virus, advising them to self-isolate to reduce spreading infection.

COP26

In October 2021, the COP26 Travel Pass was delivered which gave all delegates and volunteers free public travel during the COP26 conference period. This COP26 interoperable, multi-modal smartcard was issued to over 28,000 delegates, enabling over 141,000 journeys across the central belt on bus, rail, tram, and subway.