Open Payments Launched In Toulouse – Contactless Card Validation!

From Monday 12 February 2024, passengers will be able to use their bank card to validate their ticket on the entire Tisséo network: metro, tram, bus, cable car, park-and-ride sites and airport shuttle.

„Simple, fast, practical, environmentally friendly and secure, open payment or validation using a bank card makes travelling easier for daily and occasional travellers. The aim of this new ticket is to free customers from the purchasing constraints in order to use the network more flexibly and save time when planning their journey,“ says Jean-Michel Lattes, Chairman of Tisséo Collectivités and Tisséo Ingénierie.

„Open Payment is one of Flowbird’s solutions to encourage citizens to change their travel habits by making public transport more accessible. Our technologies are helping to decarbonise our territories every day,“ said David Thompson, Managing Director of Flowbird’s Transport division.

How does it work?

On the Tisséo network, users have to present their contactless bank card or any other smart token (smartphone, connected watch) to one of the dedicated validators. The sound of a single beep and the appearance of a green signal informs passengers that their journey has been validated for 1 hour (or 1.5 hours if the journey includes use of the airport shuttle). This does not mean that they do not need to validate at each connection. The amount debited corresponds to the total number of tickets purchased (e.g. if there are several journeys or passengers, for example). The journeys will appear on the next day’s Journey Summary.

Great deal! This new service makes it possible for several people to travel together: up to 4 companions can use their contactless bank card or any other smart payment device by tapping the front of the validator as many times as there are people. All passengers must do this again at each connection.

Airport shuttle trial report

Airport shuttle passengers have been able to use the service since July 2022. Passengers have really taken up the service, with bankcard validation accounting for 35% of validations (rising to 40% by December 2023). More than 1,650 validators have been installed to enable bankcard validation on all modes of transport on the network. The service was implemented by the Flowbird / Banque CIC consortium at the Syndical Committee meeting on 2 June 2021.