No date confirmed for testing of Cork bus ticketing system

The National Transport Authority (NTA) does not yet have a date for when testing of new bus ticketing infrastructure, already installed on Cork city buses, will be complete.

The current system of bus passengers in Cork having to go to the bus driver to pay, whether by cash or Leap Card, takes much longer than the new system which allows people to bypass the driver by using Leap Card validators installed on a pole at the front of each bus. These machines have already been installed on many buses.

A spokesperson for the NTA told The Echo: “An announcement on the go-live date for the new Leap validators and the 90-minute fares for Bus Éireann city services in Cork will be made in the coming weeks.”

The rollout of the validators and introduction of a 90-minute fare allowing people to take unlimited bus journeys during that time at no additional cost, was initially set to take place by last September.

Less than expected

Last October, the NTA said that testing of the 220 validators, bought for €359,913 excluding Vat, “has identified that the speed of the hardware in processing Leap Card transactions, and the overall software resilience of the system, is less than expected”, leading to delays.

The projected completion date was pushed out to the start of this year, before the 

NTA said in February that they were still in the testing phase, and expected to start rollout in May and finish in June.

The validator system has been in place on Dublin buses for around a decade, while the 90-minute fare was brought in across the capital in 2021.

The NTA told Labour councillor Peter Horgan last month: “We are making strong progress and are currently in the final stages of preparation, including completing essential regression testing and a number of supporting readiness activities. These steps are critical to ensuring a robust and reliable launch.

“Subject to the successful completion of these remaining tasks, we will then be in position to confirm the launch date. We will continue to monitor progress closely and will provide a confirmed launch date as soon as we are confident that all elements are fully in place.”

Mr Horgan said: “The validators are already on the Cork fleet, we need them to be turned on to allow Cork commuters the same tap and go capability as Dublin. It’s so infuriating in this country that it’s a Dublin first approach.”