The contactless, smart card based, integrated ticketing system, which will enable a passenger to use a single ticket on one or more scheduled public transport services, by road and by rail, irrespective of the transport operator involved, is being developed by the Railway Procurement Agency, RPA, and will be introduced on a phased basis, initially in the Dublin area.
A first step was the launch in April of this year, in conjunction with the RPA, of smart cards by a private operator, Morton's Coaches, on its services. Another important step will be the launch of smart cards on Luas services in spring 2005. In addition, the RPA projects that Dublin Bus and some additional private operators will follow with smart cards on its services during 2005, with the DART expected to follow in 2006.
Full integration of the back office systems of Dublin Bus and Luas is expected to take place in early 2006. Once this is completed, there will be one smart card for customers which will be operable on both bus and Luas services, with integration with other operators to follow. In the meantime, the RPA is also proceeding with the procurement of an extensive sales network which will be used by customers for topping up the value on smart cards.
The system is being designed with the involvement of all public transport operators, as well as consultation with members of the public. Discussions are ongoing between the RPA and the operators with regard to implementing the system. Such discussions include the timing of the installation of card validation equipment.
