It should be possible to pay for all public transport across Britain by contactless means by 2022, following agreements among major transport operators to support the use of smart cards in the industry.
The scheme would see contactless technology installed on all of the 32,000 buses outside London to enable cashless travel.
Oyster and contactless bank cards are already accepted in the capital, but smart ticketing offers more convenience and flexibility for passengers, allowing easy connections across different modes of transport and helping reduce ticket queues and crowding at transport interchanges.
The UK’s five major bus operators have announced they will bring contactless travel to every bus in Britain by 2022, with many areas benefiting sooner.