The Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport in a joint initiative with the Athens Urban Transport Organization (OASA) will present the new contactless payment system, Tap2Ride, on Wednesday, Jan. 15.
More specifically, in addition to the ATH.ENA Ticket or ATH.ENA Card, passengers using Athens ‘means of public transport including buses, trolleys, the Metro and trams will be able to use their debit, credit, or prepaid cards, as well as their smartphones, to access public transportation.
Passengers using OASA-operated transportation will have the alternative option of paying for their ticket contactless by tapping their bank card on validators equipped with contactless payment indicators, with the fare being charged to their account.
With this new Tap2Ride, service, Athens joins the ranks of European cities like Madrid, Milan, and London, offering passengers a simple, secure, and convenient way to travel, thereby encouraging increased use of public transportation.
According to OASA’s data, the penetration of the Tap & Pay application among passengers using the Express Airport bus lines is noteworthy. Since last April, when the pilot implementation of the ‘tap2ride,’ contactless payment system began on the Express bus lines serving Athens International Airport, the use of bank cards for payment has been steadily increasing.
Data reveals that since the launch of the pilot implementation, more than 90,000 users have utilized the service, with the average number of transactions accounting for 9% of the total transactions conducted on the Express vehicles.
