Passengers on the Tyne and Wear Metro will be able to use their Smartphones to travel on the system after a unique partnership between Google Play and Nexus. The new technology has been enabled on all Android smartphones so that people can buy their tickets digitally from the Pop card app and then use that to travel on the network while it will also be able to open ticket barriers.
It is said that this development is vital in the Covid environment we are currently in with more and more people preferring not to purchase paper tickets and instead travel in a contactless way.
Huw Lewis, Customer Services Director at Nexus, said: “he Pop card app will revolutionise how people can pay for their travel and then access the Metro network by simply touching their phone on to a gate or validator. Customers can buy and store electronic tickets on Android smartphones, and then travel without needing to carry a separate ticket or smartcard. It’s convenient, easy to use, speeds up journey times, and, in this Covid-19 era, it will further minimise the need for customers to use cash and come into contact high with touch surfaces on our ticket machines. We have worked with one of the world’s biggest companies on one hand and Nebula Labs, a tech start-up from here in North East England, to make this happen.”
Passengers can download the Pop app from the Google Play Store and use it to buy and store electronic Metro tickets through Google Pay and then travel using their smartphone in place of a Pop card.
A trial has been completed and weekly Metro tickets are available on the Pop app now and other products. Including Pop Pay As You Go, will follow next year.