Unicard News
CiTTi Awards select Unicard as finalist
TfW Ticketing Hub cEMV project shortlisted in both Payments and MaaS categories
September 9th 2024 by Unicard

We are thrilled to have been nominated with our project partners as finalists in the CiTTi Awards 2024, celebrating innovation in the transport industry.

Transport for Wales (TfW), Unicard, iBlocks, Vix Technologies and Cybersource were collectively shortlisted for both the Ticketing and Payments Award and the Mobility-as-a-Service Award.

Unicard’s cEMV solution Ticketing Hub powers TfW’s new contactless tap in, tap out payment service, which offers cheaper rail fares to travellers.

The scheme went live at the start of this year and is being extended across South Wales throughout 2024, covering 95 stations.

The new fares will usually be cheaper than the previous fares, and they will be capped to offer the best value to customers.

Ticketing Hub has enabled TfW to become the first UK train operator outside of London to deploy contactless EMV (cEMV) services, which means travellers do not have to pre-purchase a paper or digital ticket for their journey. Instead, they can use a payment card or mobile device to tap in and out on validators on rail platforms, or gates at ticket barriers, at the start and end of every train journey.

Ticketing Hub receives and processes these taps, sending them to iBlocks’ Account Based Ticketing Back Office - one of Unicard’s strategic partners - which calculates the value of each trip, taking into account customers’ travel patterns and behaviour. Unicard then ensure that an accurate and secure payment is made based on the overall journey.

Importantly, unlike other cEMV solutions, Ticketing Hub is agnostic to the card reader used. The Unicard solution is multi-modal and multi-operator, so scheme administrators can mix equipment within a single deployment.

Solent Transport has also been shortlisted in the CiTTi Awards 2024 in the Mobility-as-a-Service category for its Breeze app, which Unicard helped to implement.

Unicard’s Rail Suite platform, designed to support rail accreditation, has enabled Solent Transport to sell rail tickets through the app.

The Breeze app was developed for the Solent region and is the UK’s first multi-city Mobility-as-a-Service (MaaS) app. It’s a revolutionary new way to book and pay for journeys across all types of transport, including buses, trains, ferries and e-scooters/bikes. It also acts as a personal travel assistant: helping to find the quickest, cheapest and greenest route.

This year, 115 entries were submitted by nearly 100 organisations for the third annual CiTTi Awards.

CiTTi said: “We are thrilled to showcase the exceptional work of our finalists, who are at the forefront of transforming our cities, driving progress in transportation systems, and enhancing the way we move.”

The CiTTi Awards celebrates innovation demonstrated by UK public-sector organisations and their private-sector partners in enabling the safe, efficient and sustainable movement of people, goods and materials through urban environments.

The award winners will be announced at the Citti Awards event taking place on Tuesday, November 26, at the De Vere Grand Connaught Rooms in London.

Its organiser publishes City Transport & Traffic Innovation Magazine (CiTTi), the UK’s leading business publication for urban transport and traffic professionals.