Monday, April 30, 2012

Auckland Bus Riders Forced to Use SmartPhones!

Auckland Bus Riders Forced to Use SmartPhones!

Aucklanders will soon be able to pay their bus fare on their smartphones in a new trial announced today. 

Telecom, Westpac and Auckland Transport announced details of the trial today, which will let people tag on and off buses, trains and ferries using the latest Telecom XT smartphones instead of Hop or Snapper cards. 

Thirty staff from six organisations involved in the project will take part in an internal trial of the technology next month. 

French company Thales, which won the contract to build a smart ticketing system for Auckland, hopes the system, which relies on ''near-field communication'' (NFC) technology, will be expanded to all mobile networks and will also be used to let people pay for purchases in stores. 

In the initial transport trial, the phone will communicate with the HOP terminal to complete the transaction without having to swipe or insert a card. 

- © Fairfax NZ News

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