An Oyster Card for Wiltshire?
Residents may soon benefit from a one-stop travel card in Wiltshire.
On July 29th Wiltshire Council will debate a motion proposed by Cllr Magnus Macdonald, Lib Dem spokesperson for transport and highways, to begin developing a smart card for the county which will be used to pay for public transport, parking and other possibilities.
"Wiltshire has the chance to move into the 21st century," argued Cllr Magnus Macdonald, "a smartcard will allow residents to pay for what they use when they use it while also reducing the cost of storing and transporting money at car parks and on buses."
"We have a chance to deliver fairer fares for Wiltshire and I really hope the council takes this opportunity."
"It could right the wrong of our council being the biggest change cheat in the country and stop them taking hundreds of thousands of pounds worth of change out of the pockets of Wiltshire residents. It also gives us opportunities to expand its use in the future."
Leader of Wiltshire's Lib Dems Cllr Jon Hubbard agreed with this adding, "This is the sort of joined up strategic thinking that our council should be doing. We need to be bold in Wiltshire and take on the challenge of developing something that I believe will really benefit local residents."
Here's the motion going to the next Wiltshire Council meeting:
Proposer: Magnus MacDonald
Seconder: Gordon King
Council recognises the progress that has been made by service providers to introduce Smart Card technologies on public transport across the region.
Council further recognises the potential cost savings that can be achieved through the adoption of such schemes as well as the considerable improvements in customer experience that can result.
Council notes the benefits of integrating such schemes, thus better facilitating residents being able to travel with ease, and further notes that where such schemes are integrated with associated transport schemes, such as car parking and other council services, additional savings and improvements for residents can be achieved.
Council therefore requests that the Administration work with Officers and partners to develop a 'One Card for Wiltshire' scheme that would enable a resident to use a single payment card to pay for both public transport and car parking across the county. Additionally Council requests that the possibility of adding the ability to pay for other council services should be investigated.
Council recognises that there is work being undertaken on a regional basis and that any such scheme will have to be phased in, but requests the Administration to ensure that future developments on use of Smart Cards in the county should focus on delivery of 'One Card for Wiltshire'.
Notes:
Scheme introduced in Norfolk
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-norfolk-26781957
Proposed scheme for Oxford
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-oxfordshire-21158330
Scheme introduce for across Scotland
http://news.stv.tv/scotland/192709-plans-for-smart-card-cashless-travel-on-public-transportacross-
scotland/
Article in The Guardian describing many of the benefits of such a schemehttp://
www.theguardian.com/public-leaders-network/2013/jan/09/centro-public-transport-travelsystems
Slightly dated now, but very interesting research undertaken by DfT of use of Smart Card
technologies, particularly for expanding beyond pure public transport schemes.
http://www.dft.gov.uk/rmd/subprogramme.asp?intProgrammeID=&intSubProgrammeID=264
EU Study on Public Transport. Smartcards
http://ec.europa.eu/transport/themes/urban/studies/doc/2011-smartcards-final-report.pdf