Projects and products

We continuously aim to improve commercial and concessionary smart and integrated ticketing across Scotland. To achieve this, we work closely with operators, transport authorities, user groups and suppliers to deliver a range of projects and improvements.

Products

Saltirecard

Saltirecard is the Scottish Government ITSO accredited smartcard. ITSO is the Department for Transport’s identified system for smart ticketing and is a secure, encrypted software which is standardised across the UK.

Our Saltirecard, alongside other ITSO smartcards, lets you store electronic travel tickets. This means you can tap your card on board to make your journey and there is no need to keep hold of a paper ticket.

The Saltirecard’s smartchip can be read on any ITSO system – this is known as interoperability. This is available on the ScotRail network, Glasgow Subway, Zonecard and we are working to bring it in place on ferry and tram.

You can usually purchase tickets online at the operator’s website. Your tickets will then be available after a set period of time to collect either on board your bus for bus travel, or at train station machines or gates for rail travel.

You will also find the Saltirecard logo on the National Entitlement Card (NEC), which is used for concessionary travel and the Young Scot card. These cards use the same ITSO technology and are also interoperable which means bus, train, and subway tickets, as well as concessionary ferry vouchers, can be stored and read on them.

Technical projects

Smart ferry concessions 

In April 2024 we made concessionary ferry vouchers digital, bringing national concessionary bus travel and ferry vouchers together in one place. In a first for concession services in the UK, eligible residents in Orkney and Shetland now use digital vouchers which are stored on their National Entitlement Card. The digital ferry vouchers are electronically deducted by the ferry operator for each trip, providing a record of travel. 

We are exploring the expansion of this project to services on the west coast of Scotland.

Read more about the launch of digital ferry vouchers. 

ITSO smartcard technical enhancements for concessionary travel

In 2023 we started work to improve the quality of data we receive from concessionary travel transactions. This enables us to report on the location of the bus stop where the cardholder’s journey started.

Transport Act and Policy commitments

The National Smart Ticketing Advisory Board (NSTAB) 

NSTAB is a pioneering board made up of different types of transport, transport authorities, users, and experts to advise Scottish Ministers on the strategic direction for smart ticketing. It aims to improve passenger experience and help boost use of sustainable public transport modes. The board is a measure from the Transport (Scotland) Act 2019 and started in November 2023. 

The board also advises on the specification of a national standard for smart ticketing technology to be used in ticketing schemes. This will help to make it easier to use smart tickets across different types of travel and operators in Scotland, setting the foundation for a more consistent customer experience. 

Read more about the National Smart Ticketing Advisory Board.

Transport (Scotland) Act 2019 delivery

Measures in the Transport (Scotland) Act 2019 are being progressed, setting a framework to speed up and improve delivery of smart ticketing. This empowers local authorities with the creation and operation of smart regional ticketing schemes across Scotland, including rail and ferry services.

The Act requires local authorities to produce reports on their use of these powers to NSTAB. This allows for evaluation and adaptation of the Act’s powers, ensuring continuous improvement to meet public need. These measures will be introduced in coming years with advice from NSTAB.

Policy commitments

Fair Fare Review

The Fair Fares Review aims to deliver on the commitment set out in the First Minister`s Policy Prospectus, published in April 2023, to advance towards making our public transport system more accessible, available, and affordable, with the costs of transport more fairly shared across government, business and society. The review outlines the options, recommendations, actions, and next steps required towards achieving our vision for the future of public transport in Scotland.

The policy commitment for Fair fares Review is action 6 and 9. The full report can be found (here).

Action 6 – Fares and Ticketing Consider options and develop the business case for introducing a national and/or regional integrated ticket and fare structure. Publication of the refreshed Smart & Integrated Ticketing Strategy Delivery Plan in early 2024 and progression of its associated actions and policy deliverables.

Action 9 – Concessionary Travel in Scotland We will maintain existing eligibility to the National Concessionary Travel Schemes for those groups who currently benefit and the Review recommends that further policy development to consider better targeting of public funds towards supporting access to public transport for those who need it most, including consideration of concessionary travel support for those experiencing financial poverty. Transport Scotland will consider options for national bus or multimodal travel scheme and fare structure which could encourage more people to use bus and the wider public transport system, particularly when commuting.

Programme for Government

As part of the 2024–25 Programme for Government, the Scottish Government committed to delivering a new Traveline Scotland journey planning website and app in Autumn 2024, and this has now been successfully launched.

Climate Change Plan

The Scottish Government's Climate Change Plan (CCP) aims to meet carbon budgets between 2026-2040, with the goal of achieving net zero emissions by 2045. The plan includes 28 actions for the transport sector, focusing on sustainable travel and the transition to electric vehicles.

Transport Scotland’s Smart and Integrated Ticketing Strategy aims to make public transport easier, more accessible and more eco‑friendly through consistent, multi‑modal smart ticketing and digital payment systems, helping remove barriers to sustainable travel and improving affordability and convenience.

Bus open data legislation 

We have commenced work to deliver section 40 of the Transport (Scotland) Act 2019. This section provides Scottish Ministers with the power to introduce regulations that require information about local bus services to improve the availability and standard of passenger journey planning information. This includes information about routes, timetables, stopping places, fares, and tickets as well as the operation of services including real time information. This information should be accessible and free of charge, known as open data.

Contactless payment

The move towards payment via contactless bank cards has had an impressive impact on the travelling market. We are pleased to see larger operators embrace this convenient and simple payment method for rail, bus and ferry travel.

This movement will mean infrastructure and cost implications for smaller bus operators across Scotland. In 2018, Transport Scotland launched the £1.1m Smart Pay Grant Fund which supported operators to accept contactless payment on buses. The fund closed in December 2022 and now 98% of buses in Scotland accept contactless payment, making it significantly easier for passengers to travel by bus. This has enabled over 12m contactless payments since 2018.

Integrated ticketing

We are working with operators, Regional Transport Partnerships and Local Transport Authorities to enhance national and integrated smart ticketing, building on the national smart ticketing system already in operation.

Smart and integrated ticketing is currently widely available in Scotland. This regional ticket approach reflects the ask of passengers. Commercial integrated ticketing products are primarily developed by operators, and can be developed in agreement with local authorities.

ScotRail’s smartcard is now available on all routes and supports most ticket types, including Season tickets, Anytime, Off-Peak, Super Off-Peak Day Return, Flexipass, PlusBus, Advance Purchase Under 25 tickets, Club 50, and selected discounted railcards.

In addition, ScotRail offers Rail & Sail tickets, combining train and ferry travel in a single ticket for convenient journeys to destinations such as Orkney, Shetland, Mull, the Outer Hebrides, the Clyde coast, and Belfast.

To enhance flexibility, Near Field Communication (NFC) technology has been introduced for mobile devices, allowing passengers to purchase smart tickets online and load them directly onto their smartcards using their phones.

The map below shows the extent of some of the larger integrated tickets available in Scotland, mostly providing integrated bus-to-bus travel, with the ZoneCard including all modes within its boundaries. All of these offer tickets valid from one day up to a week, with some offering annual integrated tickets. There are more integrated tickets in Scotland than those shown on the map below. Others are generally more focused on specific routes, such as connecting rail and ferry services, whilst other integrated tickets cover much larger geographies, but with only specific services or routes included (such as the ScotRail ‘Sprit of Scotland’ ticket).

Partnership working between bus operators, local government and the Scottish Government has led to the success of these schemes. Through the Transport (Scotland) Act 2019, we are enhancing the powers of local authorities to deliver smart ticketing arrangements and schemes that can include connecting rail and ferry services.

Find out more about some of the integrated tickets available in Scotland:

Travel data

Delivery of new Digital Travel Data Services 

We are currently delivering the Digital Travel Data Services (DTDS) project, which aims to make travel information and journey planning easier and more accessible. 

As part of this project, we will enhance the Traveline Scotland website and app to improve the way people access and plan journeys online, and bring a fresh look and feel to these services. Traveline Scotland users will be able to tailor their search results to show the things that matter most to them, whether that’s the fastest or cheapest route, a step-free route, or the route with the greenest carbon footprint.

Mobility as a Service (MaaS) pilots 

In June 2019, we launched the three year, £2 million MaaS Investment Fund (MIF), which aimed to test the viability of MaaS in Scotland in a practical application. This includes creating solutions to address known transport issues across topics such as:

  • rural, island and communities
  • tackling inequalities, improving accessibility and mobility
  • tourism urban environments
  • COVID-19 transport solutions

The MIF supports innovative, digital, and data-driven solutions to provide people with better information and easier access to simple and flexible transport options. This contributes to the Scottish Government’s aim to increase sustainable travel. Funds were awarded to HITRANS, Tactran, Dundee City Council, the University of St Andrews and SEStran.

All pilots completed in 2023 and their findings will be used to inform future MaaS policy. The final evaluation report of the MaaS Investment Fund was published on 24 February 2025.