Two developments look set to change the way passengers pay for bus travel in the UK over the next few years: pan-regional London-style Oyster ticketing and multi-operator, capped, contactless card payments. They might even come together one day. The pan-regional goal is being driven by Transport for the North (TfN), which intends to take advantage of the Cities & Local Government Devolution Act to coordinate and prioritise a new system of smart and integrated public transport ticketing across the north of England. Expect something similar embracing the West and East Midlands, and from Transport Scotland. In January, the five big bus groups -Stagecoach, First, Arriva, Go-Ahead and National Express - pledged to have EMV (Europay Mastercard Visa) contactless payment - available not only on all of their own buses outside London but on all 32,000 UK buses beyond London by 2022.
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