From today, April 24, 2024, the pilot application of the contactless payment system with bank card and digital wallet through activated devices (smartphones, smartwatches) on the buses of the Express lines of the Athens International Airport (IAA) begins. Until the end of the year, the contactless transaction system will be available for passengers, in all means of mass transport under the jurisdiction of OASA (buses, trolleys, metro, trams).
The new service was presented, today, in a special event at Zappeio Megaro by the Minister of Infrastructure and Transport, Mr. Christos Staikouras, the Deputy Minister of Infrastructure and Transport, responsible for Transport, Mrs. Christina Alexopoulou, the General Secretary of Transport, Mr. Yiannis Xifaras, the CEO of of Superfund Mr. Grigoris Dimitriadis, the CEO of OASA Mr. Giorgos Spiliopoulos, the Deputy CEO of TERNA ENERGY Ms. Giorgos Agrafiotis and the General Manager of Greece, Israel, Malta and Cyprus for Visa Ms. Sevi Vassileva and the General Manager of NBG Pay Mr. Christoforos Hatzopoulos.
The alternative possibility of using a bank card (debit, credit, or prepaid) to board MMM, marks the entry of Athens Transport into a new digital era for the transportation services provided to the passenger public.
Passengers, in addition to ATH.ENA Ticket or ATH.ENA Card, can, from today, use a bank card, or the cards on their activated devices (smartphone or smartwatch) to board AIA Express buses (X93, X95 , X96, X97). Payment cards issued by authorized institutions are also included.
OASA, within the framework of a contract with Hellas Smart Ticket SA, a subsidiary of TERNA ENERGY, in collaboration with LG CNS and with the support of Visa and NBG Pay, developed the application of the pilot system of contactless transactions on the specific bus lines , with a horizon of expansion of the project to all the urban transport of the capital, until the end of 2024.
Passengers moving to and from Athens International Airport can now alternatively pay for their ticket contactless by swiping their bank card over the bus validation machines with the relevant indication of contactless transactions.
Equipment installed on selected buses “reads” the card or digital wallet and charges the value of the trip to the passenger’s account.
With this new service, Athens joins the list of European cities, such as Madrid, Milan, and London, which enable passengers to move in a simple, safe and comfortable way, contributing to the increase in the use of public transport.
Public urban transport will play a critical role in the development of smart cities and in facilitating the movement of users, with contactless payments (tap & pay) offering a secure and seamless experience for passengers and transport system managers looking for easy, immediate and secure access to these services.
The benefits for the passenger
With the implementation of the use of bank cards for boarding MMMs, the passenger public will not need to:
To procure a ticket through the issuing offices or issuing machines (AMEK).
To know the available moving products to choose the appropriate one. The system in its full development will charge the passenger the most economical fare product, based on their movements. An extremely useful feature for passengers who are not familiar with the Athens transportation system, such as visitors from other cities and tourists.
To look for points of sale, or wait in queues to buy a ticket, in order to travel by MMM.
The Minister of Infrastructure and Transport, Mr. Christos Staikouras, said regarding the implementation of the contactless transaction system in urban transport: “The support of contactless payments in Mass Transport is one of the ten priorities we set when reading the Government’s programmatic statements .
This project:
adapts urban transport to the modern era, promotes smart mobility, facilitates public transport passengers,
further encourages their use by citizens, as well as visitors to the capital, reduces travel costs, and contributes to increasing the revenue of transport operators.
In the first phase, “tap & pay” will be applied to the vehicles of the Airport Express Bus Lines, while all applications will be available to passengers by the end of 2024.
Until then, the effort made by the Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport to modernize public transport will be more visible to citizens, as in a few weeks the 140 new electric buses will start running on the streets of Athens.
With the new vehicles and the new services we prove in practice that we are implementing the plan we have drawn up.
We are gradually shaping an environment of sustainable urban mobility in the capital, creating infrastructure and developing services that will serve citizens for many years to come.”
For her part, the Deputy Minister of Infrastructure and Transport, responsible for Transport, Ms. Christina Alexopoulou, underlined that: “With the installation of the specific system in the Public Transport, a reduction in ticket evasion is expected, which will lead to an increase in their revenues. “We are digitizing”, characteristically pointed out the Deputy Minister, “the services and we are simplifying the procedures for the benefit of the citizens and we are planning the further utilization of technology for the significant improvement of movements and the reduction of the environmental footprint”.
The General Secretary of Transport, Yiannis Xifaras, pointed out that: “Contactless payments greatly facilitate the daily life of regular passengers of urban transport, but also of visitors to our city. At the same time, they unlock the interoperability of Athens transport with other mobility applications. We are therefore given the possibility for combined movements with and outside the OASA, with a single fare. Particularly important, however, is the automatic selection of the cheapest fare package by the system itself for the passenger, without him having to prepay for a service that he might not use in the end. So we can say that the time spent waiting in queues for card renewals and issuing tickets is eliminated, the cost of our movements is reduced and new possibilities of combined transport are opened up”.
For his part, the Managing Director of the Superfund, Mr. Grigoris Dimitriadis, said: “Athens’ transportation is changing. They are moving into a new era. They are becoming more digital and more user-friendly by adopting new technologies that provide greater freedom and facilitate passengers. This evolution is part of the overall strategy of the Superfund which emphasizes the modernization of public interest enterprises. In cooperation with reliable partners, we are proceeding with the gradual digital transformation of MMMs with the aim of improving the daily life of citizens and strengthening the most environmentally friendly urban transport.”
The Managing Director of OASA, Mr. Giorgos Spiliopoulos, emphasized in this regard: “A very important page opens today for the urban transport of the capital. The first part of the implementation of the contactless transaction system is put into use for each boarding of MMM under OASA responsibility. Another step in the digital transformation of Athens’ urban transport
Athens Communications, following the developments in advanced transport systems, is now added to the list of European metropolitan entities that implement smart city practices (London, Brussels, etc.)
With the technological upgrade of the OASA ticketing and issuing information system, the level of service for millions of our fellow citizens who use public transport every day for their movements is significantly improved”.
Referring to the progress of the project, the Deputy CEO of TERNA ENERGY, Mr. Giorgos Agrafiotis, noted: “Adaptation and evolution are the core and superiority of PPPs over Public Projects, in multi-year operation and maintenance projects, as they exist constant improvements and modernization, due to the different temporal and technological circumstances. We are starting today as a pilot with the airport line and within the year we will complete the installation and expand to all the means of OASA. At the same time, TERNA ENERGY has completed the production of the Thessaloniki e-ticket software and the installation is starting in the middle of the co-capital, solving with the same efficiency the interoperability with the METRO systems of Thessaloniki, so that they will be ready for its scheduled opening”.
Ms. Sevi Vassileva, General Manager of Greece, Israel, Malta and Cyprus for Visa, said “The new contactless payment system marks the beginning of a different travel experience for MMMs. Simpler, faster and easier for those who live, work and visit Athens. Contactless payments in MMMs contribute to the creation of more efficient and sustainable cities, while they are a necessary option for the deployment of solutions that combine security and convenience. Across over 750 Visa urban mobility projects worldwide we are seeing increasing and more intensive participation, with contactless payments being key to facilitating access and use of MMMs.”
Mr. Christoforos Hatzopoulos, General Manager of NBG Pay, pointed out: “We are very proud of the innovative service that creates new data in urban mobility & upgrading the operation of transportation in our country. We continue to monitor trends in the digital payments industry and adapt to market needs.”
GOULIELMOS ANTONIOU
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