Online service enables elderly and disabled bus passengers to obtain concessionary travel cards
Unicard is pleased to announce that its fully hosted and managed smart ticketing solution has been implemented by Northamptonshire County Council to provide an online service that allows elderly and disabled residents to apply for, renew and replace concessionary travel cards.
The fully hosted and managed solution allows Northamptonshire County Council to manage its ENCTS concessionary travel card programme. Northamptonshire has deployed the Unicard Concessionary Portal (CCRS), a customer-facing portal, and Unicard’s Card Management System (CMS), which manages all cardholder information and requests. The CMS also enables council staff to quickly process applications manually on behalf of residents that do not wish to use the portal.
The CCRS is a fully customisable website that is optimised for PCs and all mobile devices. It is intuitive and simple to navigate, allowing elderly and disabled residents to fill out their details and complete their travel card application in a few easy steps. Residents can access the CCRS-powered website from the comfort of their own home, or they can visit a local library where council staff equipped with tablets can help them with the application process.
Unicard’s CMS is a web-based solution that allows Northamptonshire to coordinate all aspects of registration, production and management of concessionary travel cards. The CMS is a flexible solution and like the CCRS it can be adapted for internal use, enabling council staff to process applications on behalf of residents. Council staff can take a resident’s details and create a request for a travel card within two minutes. This feature ensures that all eligible residents are able to qualify for concessionary travel. Once an application has been created the new requests are sent automatically via the CMS to a local printing bureau for final production.
The CMS is fully integrated with Unicard’s Host Operator Processing System (HOPS). Using the HOPS, Northamptonshire can access transaction data generated by concessionary journeys with local bus operators and reconcile fares in line with ENCTS. It has a clean and simple user interface and allows Northamptonshire to access card information or travel data and use the built-in reporting tools.
Unicard has a strong heritage of working with Local Authorities up and down the country, helping them to implement concessionary travel card schemes.
He added: “We’re absolutely delighted to be helping Northamptonshire County Council deliver a service that meets its ENTCS requirements”.
“Unicard strives to be the preferred provider to all Local Authorities, delivering the resources they need to rollout comprehensive smart ticketing programmes”.
“Unicard’s fully integrated and hosted solution is capable of supporting a full range of public transport schemes, including everything from local bus and rail travel, to public cycle hire and the renting of electric scooters”, Verrept concluded.