MPK Wrocław have revealed how their will work once it goes live on March 8th.
Unlike the current system, whereby paper tickets can be purchased onboard MPK's buses and trams, the new setup is completely paperless.
Traditional paper tickets can still be used and they will still be available to buy in kiosks, shops and machines at public transport stops. However once you are on a bus or tram, purchasing an e-ticket is your only solution (bar trying to dodge the ticket inspector).
In order to purchase an e-ticket, passengers will either need a contactless bank card or an NFC enabled phone. One other option is to get yourself MPK's new Urbancard EP, which can be topped up with credit for buying individual tickets onboard Wrocław's public transport vehicles.
The machines have a simple touchscreen interface that requires very little knowledge of Polish, however there are also English and German language options available.
Existing Urbancard holders purchasing long-term tickets (e.g. one month or longer) need not replace their cards. However they may do so if they wish.
For tickets purchased via a contactless bank card, a special system will register all the card numbers that were used to purchase valid tickets. Therefore to check whether someone has bought a ticket, MPK ticket inspectors will need to scan the bank card that was used to make the purchase. MPK stress that their system encrypts all the data securely and only provides the ticket inspectors with information on the type of ticket that was purchased.
That might not be enough to convince everyone however, and some people may not be too keen on handing over their bank card to a ticket inspector. If you come into this category it would therefore be wise to get yourself an Urbancard EP. Information on how to get one of the cards is available in English .
The new system is bound to bring efficiency savings for MPK, who will no longer need to refill ticket machines. The number of paper tickets they would need to print is also likely to come down, saving yet more money.
In terms of benefits for passengers, MPK say that the number of machines will increase from 820 to 3,300 – making it much easier to buy a valid ticket.
