What is available as part of the first phase from 14 December?
Passengers will be able to buy the smartcards from key locations around the city to make day trips – mostly just a series of ticket machines – to check the system works fully.
What will be available in the next phases as the scheme progresses?
Once tested the council says it will be introducing weekly fare capping, out of area travel, child and student variants, and a much wider network of places to buy the card.
How do the smartcards work?
Passengers press the cards to smartcard readers once for each trip made. On any bus service, this will be the reader on entering the bus. For the tram, it will be a validator on the platform. Passengers will only need to present their card at the start of their journey. If they try to ‘touch off’ at the end then they will be charged twice.
What fares will be charged?
Fares are set by each operator on a commercial basis. Together they represent the best deal for any trip made on the day and are at least 10% less than paying by cash;
Single trip on one day
Any operator £1.70
Day fare cap – unlimited number of trips
Any one given operator £3.15
More than one operator £4.00
How to buy and top up the smartcard
Smartcards can be purchased and topped-up from any Robin Hood Network ticket machine in the City. See website for locations. This can only be done by credit or debit card. The card itself is free of charge. Passengers can also find out the current balance on cards on these machines at any time. Other retail outlets such as travel centres, newsagents, web and tram stops are to follow next year. More Robin Hood Network ticket machines are being added.
What if passengers run out of credit?
As long as passengers have some credit on their card they will be able to make a further single journey. On next top-up they will have their balance deducted by the subsidised amount of the last journey.
What if I already have another travel card?
Other travel cards will still be valid, such as Mango, Kangaroo and CityCard. Robin Hood will eventually be the only card that operates across all of these services.