Passengers in the Swindon area using the Thamesdown Transport bus network will soon be benefiting from one of the most advanced ticketing technology systems in the UK.
Thamesdown has just specified Parkeon’s Wayfarer200 platform to dual read concessionary passes and its own commercial smartcard scheme, having brought forward the replacement of its current Wayfarer system to take advantage both of a regional grant and the BSOG ITSO incentive.
The order will roll out across the 90 vehicle fleet from September and will make the operator one of the first to utilise the West of England ITSO HOPS facility. Parkeon will also interface its ticketing equipment with Thamesdown’s RTI system.
Managing director of Thamesdown, Paul Jenkins, said: “Investing in this technology at this time will not only bring significant advantages to our concessionary and commercial customers, it will also enable us as a company to benefit from the BSOG uplift and a regional funding opportunity.
“Critically, we need the technology to be able to dual-read our successful Wayfarer-mapped commercial smartcard schemes along with the ITSO-based English National Concessionary Travel Scheme smartcards. We also run a multi-operator network ticketing scheme locally with Stagecoach and so a key consideration was the need for both companies to migrate to ITSO to maintain inter-operability with smartcards.”
Thamesdown conducted a rigorous assessment of ITSO ticketing platforms and found the experiences of the ALBUM Parkeon User Group helpful in informing the decision-making process.
Head of UK sales at Parkeon, Gavin Trimnell, said: “Our relationship with Thamesdown goes back over 20 years through three generations of ticketing equipment and so we are delighted to be continuing what has been a very positive business relationship.”
