It seems that more and more passengers are switching to using contactless payments to pay for their bus travel, however unlike other bus operators in the region, the system utilised by National Express Buses (NX Bus) was limited to a simple “tap and cap” method, where you never pay more than the value of a Daysaver.
While this suits the majority of passengers, it doesn’t allow for buying of Group tickets, or other multi-operator tickets, for which you would have to pay by cash or with a Swift Pay As You Go card.
This is all set to change though, as NX Coventry are trialling a system upgrade which will allow the purchase of various tickets using a contactless card or mobile device.
Follow these 3 steps
- When getting on the bus, ask your driver for your chosen ticket(s).
- Your choice(s) will be displayed on the reader.
- Hold your contactless card / device to the reader until the light goes green, take your ticket(s) and have a seat.
Of course, if you’re only intending to travel on NX Buses, then you can continue to just ‘tap and go’ as before.
This is currently being piloted on NX Coventry buses, and so is not yet available on NX West Midlands buses. If the trial proves successful, expect to see official publicity once it is available on NX West Midlands buses.
UPDATE: This is now also available on NX West Midlands buses.
wpDiscuz