• Paying for and validating single bus tickets will be available as of this January on all regular Barcelona Metropolitan Transport (TMB).

Barcelona, 19 January 2022.- Paying for and validating single bus tickets will be available as of this January on all regular Barcelona Metropolitan Transport (TMB) lines, once EMV readers have finished being installed in the fleet. This is the culmination of a project promoted jointly with the Metropolitan Transport Authority (ATM) to provide an easy, practical and safe alternative to cash payments on board vehicles.

It makes Barcelona the first city in the Spanish state where cash payments disappeared during the first months of the pandemic and an e-purchase service is now being offered for single tickets throughout the bus network.

The system accepts contactless debit and credit card payments from the main brands, as well as mobile devices they can be integrated into, such as telephones and smart watches. All you need do when boarding a bus is hold your card or device up to the EMV (Europay Mastercard Visa) reader, which is located next to the driver. The reader collects data and manages single-ticket purchases through payment gateways. These e-transactions also provide proof of ticket validity during ticket inspections, as the inspection terminal has access to it, thereby doing away with the need for tickets.

No previous procedures

Bank card payments make access to buses easier for occasional bus users, who get on board without any integrated card or season ticket and expect to buy a single ticket on board (fewer than 2% of ticket validations). It means anyone can travel with their own credit or debit cards and without having to go through any previous procedures.

This new system also spares users the need for handling cash and helps to speed up the service with shorter waiting times at bus stops. TMB is therefore turning Barcelona into one of the first major European cities moving towards a fully digital payment system where cash is not needed on board.

The project for single tickets paid for by bank cards on board TMB buses is another step in the technological transformation project that the ATM has been carrying out with T-mobilitat. The solution can later be extended to buses run by the system’s other operators.

Over 500,000 tickets sold

The project was developed by TMB following the Covid-19 health crisis, with the involvement of the companies Global Payments and Inetum. The first step, launched last May, was to introduce the system to the V3 and 46 pilot lines. Since then, more than 500,000 purchases and validations have been recorded as the system was steadily rolled out on various bus lines using EVV terminals, working well and with a very high rating from users.

Once the system has been extended to the entire regular fleet (1,070 vehicles), a communication campaign will then be launched with messages at stops, on digital channels and in the MouTV video-broadcast circuit to present the new way of purchasing and validating single tickets on TMB buses.

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