Traveling around Nottingham using public transport will soon be even easier for Gedling borough residents with the introduction of a new Oyster-style travel card on Monday (14).
The pay-as-you-go Robin Hood smartcard will create a hassle-free way of getting around Nottingham on bus or tram – even when using different transport operators.
The Robin Hood card will be valid for travel on Nottingham Express Transit (tram), Nottingham City Transport (NCT) – including Pathfinder and South Notts buses – Kinchbus, Trent Barton and the City Council’s Linkbus network (including park and ride) within Nottingham.
The Robin Hood smartcard will work like London’s Oyster card with customers adding money to the card to pay for bus and tram fares.
A single trip on one day will be £1.70 with any operator. Unlimited day trips can be made for £3.15 from any one given operator or £4 for more than one operator. The minimum top-up on the card will be £10.
The card itself is free and the fares are set by the transport providers. Passengers don’t have to decide in advance which ticket to buy – the card works this out and gives the best fare on the day for the trips they’ve made.
To use the card, a customer will present it to a smartcard reader once for each trip made. On bus services, this will be the reader on entering the bus. To use the tram, the Robin Hood card should be touched on to the validator on the platform.
The Robin Hood card is the first scheme of its kind outside London, where the Oyster card has revolutionised the way people get around the capital.
Councillor Nick McDonald, Portfolio Holder for Growth, Jobs and Transport at Nottingham City Council, said: “This is a really exciting development and further underlines our commitment to providing a world-class public transport system for Nottingham. An integrated travel card of this type has never been done before outside London and I’m delighted that we’ve been able to work with our commercial partners to make it happen.
The Robin Hood card will be valid over the Greater Nottingham area, from Arnold to Ruddington, and from Netherfield to Beeston, so will be great for occasional public transport commuters and for shoppers and visitors to the city.”
For more information visit the website www.robinhoodnetwork.co.uk from Monday.
