Multi Operator cEMV Contactless Fare Capping System

The West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA) through Transport for West Midlands ('TfWM'), and in partnership with Project Coral (a Bus operators' group), are aiming to progress and introduce a contactless ticketing solution/ system (cEMV) for public transport users on bus and tram across England.

Project Coral was formed in 2019 and is a collaborative private sector led Steering Board comprising of FirstGroup PLC, Arriva UK Bus Ltd, Stagecoach Services Ltd, The Go-Ahead Group Ltd, National Express Ltd and Rotala PLC.

Currently, with multiple modes of transport, serviced by an array of operators, public transport users often overpay for their travel; due to the variety of embedded solutions being unable to interplay with each other.

TfWM and Coral therefore wish to procure a contactless multi-operator fare capping ticketing system.

The system will provide a secure way of reconciling customer trips when payments are made using contactless (cEMV) technology across different public transport operators and their respective independent technical systems.

The system will enable customers of (initially) tram and bus services to only need their credit or debit cards or mobile phones to make payment at the best price.

This is in line with the Department for Transport's (DfT) wider national objectives to make multi-modal and multi-operator travel cheaper and easier for individuals, capping payments at a daily or weekly limit.

The maximum contract value is £16,752,000.

The initial contract term is 5 years but with three separate built in extensions (+2, +2, +1).

Thus, if all the extension options are triggered, the total contract length will be 10 years in total.