Contactless leap card pay plan for Cork buses welcomed

A city councillor welcomed confirmation by the National Transport Authority that efforts are underway to introduce an updated tap on Leap card payment system for Cork buses.

Labour Party councillor and chair of the council’s transport SPC, Peter Horgan, also stated that next-gen contactless payment operations must be rolled out much quicker for public transport on Leeside.

“The Dublin fleet already has faster onboarding with their leap card kiosks based within the bus, not just with the driver,” Mr Horgan said.

“Equipping the Cork fleet is crucial over the summer months ahead of the return to school rush that will take place. This is the most basic component we need to address onboarding issues on our bus routes. It’s vital that it is in place before September.

“We need to show how easy it can be to pay and board the bus with your card on your phone or with your debit card. Other European cities are already lightyears ahead of us on that technology.”

He added that he will be collaborating on this matter with Labour Party colleagues but also said he is willing to work “cross party with anyone who wants to see better public transport in our city”.

In a response to a query from Mr Horgan, a spokesperson from the National Transport Authority said: “The NTA is currently in the midst of the crucial end-to-end testing of the hardware and software solution to be deployed on the buses in Cork.

“As this combination has not been used previously, NTA has to be confident that the solution is fully proven and robust before it is released.”