Next year will see the introduction of \u201cget me there\u201d, the new smart ticketing system on public transport in Greater Manchester it has been confirmed. The new system will be introduced in stages from 2014 with Metrolink planned to be the first mode of transport to use it in the second half of the year.<\/p>\n
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Speaking about \u201cget me there\u201d, Cllr Andrew Fender, Chair of the Transport for Greater Manchester Committee, said: \u201cget me there is one of the most exciting developments in public transport in\u00a0Greater Manchester in many years. It will revolutionise the way that people pay for their transport needs, and will help to\u00a0remove many of the barriers that get in the way of people making best use of our buses,\u00a0trains and trams. With more than 30 independent, commercial bus operators, a tram network and\u00a0several inter-regional rail operators running public transport services across and into the\u00a0region, our smart ticketing scheme will be one of the most advanced of its type in the\u00a0world. But we want it to be as simple as possible for people at the point of use \u2013 hence a name\u00a0that says \u2018what it does on the tin\u2019. London may have its Oyster and Liverpool its Walrus, but we like to embrace the\u00a0challenge of doing things differently here, which is why we have chosen a different kind\u00a0of name with get me there.\u201d<\/p>\n
Although the new system is being compared to London\u2019s Oyster system TfGM are keen to point out that it is actually an advancement of that type of system. Cllr Fender continued: \u201cWe knew that people would expect our scheme to be like Oyster,\u00a0but both life and technology have moved on since its introduction. People will have a variety of ways to use get me there and that\u2019s why our focus is about\u00a0what the system can do for you, rather than the name of a single card. Yes, there will be a dedicated card \u2013 called my get me there \u2013 for the scheme, but\u00a0people with an existing TfGM-issued concessionary photo card, such as an igo or a\u00a0national concessionary scheme card, will be able to \u00a0use these cards instead. get me there will also accept contactless bank cards when we roll out the scheme on\u00a0Metrolink and, in the near future, we expect that people will be able to use their smart\u00a0phones as well. The technology behind get me there is being built to be as flexible as possible to\u00a0accommodate any future devices \u2013 even the ones we don\u2019t know about yet.\u201d<\/p>\n
Passengers will be able to use the scheme by touching any \u201cget me there\u201d enabled device (whether that is the actual \u201cget me there\u201d card or a bank card) on to an electronic validator (as per London\u2019s Oyster card). The validator will then check whether there is enough credit on the device. It is planned that the first validators will be installed on the Metrolink network later this year.<\/p>\n
It is hoped that passengers on Metrolink will be able to use the new system from the second half of 2014 and then bus and rail passengers will join in from 2015.<\/p>\n
People are being encouraged to register their interest for the system now with a website at http:\/\/www.getmethere.com<\/a> now available or by visiting a TfGM Travelshop. Then when the system is ready to go live they will be contacted with further details.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Next year will see the introduction of \u201cget me there\u201d, the new smart ticketing system on public transport in Greater Manchester it has been confirmed. The new system will be introduced in stages from 2014 with Metrolink planned to be … Continue reading