Teething problems experienced in the ‘smartcard’ school bus pass pilot at Sir E Scott School in Harris are being ironed out as close monitoring continues.
Comhairle members were recently updated on the smartcard pilot progress, along with
the next steps introducing and expanding the system island-
Council officers detailed that monitoring action is being undertaken to ensure every passenger is recorded electronically on the new ticketing system.
The smartcard pilot began in Sir E Scott in August. Older pupils use Young Scot cards
and younger pupils the KidZ card to swipe through ticket machines instead of normal
Comhairle-
Initial problems with the smartcards included the inability for pupils to add a second destination other than their home through the smartcard system.
It is hoped the next steps of the Smartcard Project will find a solution. A ‘SEEMIS transport module’ is to be implemented to manage the school transport system, and then officers will look to add a system to create ‘products’ – other bus routes for example –to the Smartcards.
The products could be paid for via a new schools online payment service.
Councillors were informed that funding has also been offered by Transport Scotland towards a separate project to develop smartcard products.
Electronic bus tickets for pupils
2 December 2014