Pupils getting Smarter en route to school

The new Argyll and Bute initiative will see over 350 Oban High School pupils, who are entitled to free travel to school, given a Saltire card loaded with smart tickets. In addition, pupils who are not entitled to free travel can load the card with West Coast Motors e-ticket product

The card replaces the current council-issued paper travel pass, making it easier for pupils to use while delivering reduced administrative overheads and better planning information to the Council and West Coast Motors.

Launching the card in Oban today, Keith Brown, Cabinet Secretary for Infrastructure, Investment and Cities, said:

“It’s great to see a further development in our smart ticketing capabilities and is another example of Transport Scotland working successfully in partnership with local authorities and bus operators

“The use of smart technology to enable one card to fulfil many purposes forms part of Transport Scotland’s long term vision for all journeys on Scotland’s bus, rail, ferry, subway and tram networks to be accessed using some form of smart ticketing or payment.

“Travel is just one use of the Saltire card and hopefully this initiative will encourage users to take advantage of the wider benefits available to them through Young Scot.”

The start of the scheme follows a successful pilot which was held in October 2014 and will be rolled out to a further six schools high schools in Argyll & Bute in the near future.On completion over 1200 pupils will have access to the system.

The schools are:

• Tobermory High School
• Tarbert Academy
• Campbeltown Grammar School
• Lochgilphead Joint Campus
• Dunoon Grammar School
• Rothesay Academy.

Argyll and Bute Council’s policy lead for transportation, Councillor Alistair MacDougall, welcomed the scheme, saying:

‘’We are delighted to be part of this initiative. Anything which makes travelling easier and more convenient for the people who use our transport services is to be welcomed. This new scheme will make it easier for pupils across the area to travel but it will also help us work together with operators to supply accurate data which will help to provide a great service for our customers.’’

West Coast Motors Managing Director Colin Craig said:

“It is very important to keep pace with the evolution in payment and ticketing developments to enable our customers to make travelling by bus and coach as easy as possible. Our recent investment in new ticketing equipment has enabled us to deliver a smart card solution that we look forward to rolling out across our services in partnership with Transport Scotland and Argyll and Bute Council.”

ENDS