What bus operators are still using ticket machines other than Ticketer ticket machines?

[temsaavenue]

With this sudden huge massive popularity in Ticketer machines recently with almost everyone switching to Ticketer machines i am wondering what bus operators are actually still using machines other than Ticketer machines. I reckon that at least 90% of bus operators use Ticketer these days. It almost makes it boring for bus enthusiasts and ticket machine enthusiasts these days with such little variety.

This is another thread that i have just found about the popularity of Ticketer bus ticket machines - https://www.railforums.co.uk/threads/ticketer-bus-ticket-machines.170420/ - so it seems that it is well known that Ticketer are really taking over the UK bus ticket machine industry.

But there are some bus operators that still use other bus ticket machines. In fact some are still on very old types of bus ticket machines. I can personally think of the following off the top of my head:

Almex A90:
• Rambler Coaches
• Red Bus

Almex Optima:
• None that i can think of? Unless anyone knows of any that still do?

Almex Optima BL:
• None that i can think of? Unless anyone knows of any that still do?

INIT EVENDpc:
• Comfort Delgro Metroline [Non TFL Routes]
• Nottingham Community Transport
• Red Eagle Buses
• Red Line Buses
• Red Rose Buses

Tixiom T1M:
• Trustybus
• Wanderbus

VIX ERG TP4000:
• None that i can think of? Unless anyone knows of any that still do?

VIX ERG TP5000:
• None that i can think of? Unless anyone knows of any that still do?

VIX ERG TP5600:
• None that i can think of? Unless anyone knows of any that still do?

VIX ERG TP5700:
• Centrebus
• Grant Palmer

VIX ERG TP5800:
• Big Lemon
• Stagecoach

Wayfarer 1:
• None that i can think of? Unless anyone knows of any that still do?

Wayfarer 2 (aka Wayfarer Saver):
• C G Myall
• Langston & Tasker
• Shoreline Suncruisers
• Sussex Coaches

Wayfarer 3:
• Isle Coaches
• Southern Transit

Wayfarer TGX150:
• Bear Buses
• Bus Eireann
• Cardinal Buses
• Dublin Bus
• NSL Gatwick Airport
• RATP Epsom Buses Quality Line [Non TFL Routes]
• Star Travel
• Translink

Wayfarer TGX200:
• Autocar
• Blackpool Transport
• Cumfybus
• Halton Transport
• Kent Coach Tours
• Lets Go
• Network Warrington
• Newport Bus
• Red Route Buses
• Reptons Coaches
• Vale Travel
• Z & S Transport

Wayfarer 6:
• Lothian (East Coast Buses)
• Lothian (Lothian Buses)
• Lothian (Lothian Country Buses)
• Transdev [Blackburn & Burnley Depots Only]

Old Fashioned Manual Ticket Machines:
• Little Jims Buses
• Rye & District Community Transport

No Ticket Machines Used And No Tickets Issued:
• Buses 4 U

Can anyone think of any others? There must be some others around the UK that are still using other types? But who knows how long before these convert as well? I do wonder if one day soon 100% of all bus operators in the UK will be using Ticketer machines?

 

[Observer]

They're expensive and not everyone is going to drop money on them. You're looking at over £2000 a machine, plus licensing costs.

Ticketer is also known to trip up anyone buying second-hand machines by putting up a rather costly reprogramming fee on them.

 

[Jordan Adam]

All operators in Aberdeen, Aberdeenshire, Moray & Highlands besides Stagecoach use Ticketer's. The Western Isle's and Shetland are away to (or already) all converting too. The Council own the ticket machines used by the independent operators up here, hence how they can all afford Ticketer.

 

[175mph]

With Go Ahead taking over many if not all of First's Manchester services, are they getting their own ticket machines or just reprogramming the Ticketer machines First had in the buses before the Go Ahead takeover in Manchester?

 

[B7rleThrasher]

With Go Ahead taking over many if not all of First's Manchester services, are they getting their own ticket machines or just reprogramming the Ticketer machines First had in the buses before the Go Ahead takeover in Manchester?

Reprogramming wirelessly!

 

[B7rleThrasher]

As a depot manager, Ticketer machines are absolutely superb - the back office has saved me hours and hours when I’ve been trying to draw off reports and find data!

 

[chubs]

Konectbus (Go Ahead).

Which is really annoying as I rarely have cash, the closest bank has closed and taken the ATM away and I 90% of the time end up walking to the main road and catching a First bus so I can pay by card.

 

[Steelwheels]

You can scrub Cumfybus off the list as they were early adopters of Ticketer machines some 3 years ago, Halton are due to upgrade to Ticketer very shortly.

 

[MrTurbostar170]

Konectbus (Go Ahead).

Which is really annoying as I rarely have cash, the closest bank has closed and taken the ATM away and I 90% of the time end up walking to the main road and catching a First bus so I can pay by card.

That will all change from this Sunday.

 

[chubs]

That will all change from this Sunday.

Are they getting ticketer?

 

[Simon75]

Operators in London

 

[Eyersey468]

Do any Stagecoach companies use Ticket?

 

[markymark2000]

Do any Stagecoach companies use Ticket?

Stagecoach use VIX machines.

 

[markymark2000]

Halton Transport are now using Ticketer. Just incase you want to edit the list.

 

[F Great Eastern]

Believe it or not, some of Bus Eireann's fleet is on Wayfarer 3 still with an ongoing program to upgrade to the TGX150.

The rollout of the 'new' TGX150 has been going on for several years (and still is) and there were vehicles delivered in the last couple of years which have had Wayfarer 3 installed as standard.

The TGX150 is still used on all Dublin Bus services and Go Ahead Ireland services and all of the Bus Eireann city fleet and can barely cope with having to power an external validator, destination blinds and a smart card system, with functionality having to be creatively designed to work in the 1MB RAM/ROM. For example when someone uses cash, the machine has to come out of the leap ticket software instance and go into cash one and vice versa as the machines are not powerful enough to have both loaded at once.

Thread on the snails pace roll-out here:
https://www.tapatalk.com/groups/irishtransport/wayfarer-tgx150-t40.html

 

[ACBest]

Centrebus are gradually moving over to Ticketer - some buses at Luton and Leicester are now using the new machines.

 

[43055]

Trent Barton uses Ticketer but also have the old INIT machines as well so the mango cards can still be used. This might be the same for Kinchbus.

 

[radamfi]

Britain has long been at the forefront of ticket machine innovation because fares are unnecessarily complicated and there is too much emphasis on time wasting driver interaction. The Netherlands got by without ticket machines for years and preferred to sell pieces of pre-printed card to the few passengers who would pay the driver. However, Dutch buses now accept debit/credit card payment and so have ticket machines to print out the card receipts and sometimes the ticket.

 

[Speedbird96]

National Express West Midlands, National Express Coventry and Nottingham City Transport uses INIT TOUCHmon2 drivers console units, PRINTmobil machines and PROXmobil3 card readers (which NCT is retrofitting to allow for contactless payment).

 

[RustySpoons]

Lancashire United (or Blackburn Bus Company/Transdev Blackburn/whatever they want to be called) are now on Ticketer. That just leaves Burnley & Pendle on Wayfarer 6's with no contactless available.

 

[Volvodart]

All operators in Aberdeen, Aberdeenshire, Moray & Highlands besides Stagecoach use Ticketer's. The Western Isle's and Shetland are away to (or already) all converting too. The Council own the ticket machines used by the independent operators up here, hence how they can all afford Ticketer.

Grants were available in Scotland for the operators to move to Ticketer.

https://www.transport.gov.scot/public-transport/smart-and-integrated-ticketing/erdf-funding/

 

[cnjb8]

Trent Barton uses Ticketer but also have the old INIT machines as well so the mango cards can still be used. This might be the same for Kinchbus.

Yes, Kinch retained them as they have the Kinchkard.

 

[TheWalrus]

I’ve always hated using ticketer machines, very difficult to use and very frustrating! The calibration of the touch screen is bad and therefore you always end up pressing the wrong functions. They always freeze and it takes ages to issue a contactless payment.

However I much prefer the VIX machines. Easier to use with buttons and no touch screen. Contactless payments couldn’t be quicker. I would seriously be put off working for a company that uses ticketer machines because they frustrated me so much!

 

[Planesandtrain]

Quite interestingly on the Epping Ongar Railway 381/339 routes we actually use alpha coded Gibson ticket machines to issue local fares and bus rovers. Very easy and quick compared to modern ticket machines.

 

[markymark2000]

I’ve always hated using ticketer machines, very difficult to use and very frustrating! The calibration of the touch screen is bad and therefore you always end up pressing the wrong functions. They always freeze and it takes ages to issue a contactless payment.

However I much prefer the VIX machines. Easier to use with buttons and no touch screen. Contactless payments couldn’t be quicker. I would seriously be put off working for a company that uses ticketer machines because they frustrated me so much!

Ticketer I found to be very good. It's a lot more user friendly for newbies but the VIX machines have a lot more functions and are quicker at printing tickets/accepting passes. I think Ticketer has the better back office features though.

Lancashire United (or Blackburn Bus Company/Transdev Blackburn/whatever they want to be called) are now on Ticketer. That just leaves Burnley & Pendle on Wayfarer 6's with no contactless available.

I thought all Transdev companies were on Ticketer?

 

[carlberry]

I’ve always hated using ticketer machines, very difficult to use and very frustrating! The calibration of the touch screen is bad and therefore you always end up pressing the wrong functions. They always freeze and it takes ages to issue a contactless payment.

As a passenger I'd have to say that the contactless feature on Ticketer always feels much slower than it should be. The split ticket when using contactless also slows things down (however this might be down to individual operator's setups).

 

[goldisgood]

Ticketer is always very awkward to use for Contactless I find, and seem to be a lot slower. VIX machines seem to be far superior from a passenger perspective, but I'm not sure about how they are in the back office.

 

[RustySpoons]

I thought all Transdev companies were on Ticketer?

Everywhere except Burnley is on Ticketer and accepts contactless payments - despite some of the Rosso fleet being based there.

Blackburn went contactless a few months back, although it was supposed to be a gradual roll out they rolled it out across the whole fleet.

Apparently they were/are tied in to a contract with Wayfarer, and Transdev had only recently got Wayfarer 6's for the Lancashire operations by the time they'd started using Ticketer's in Yorkshire which is why Lancs is slow in upgrading.

 

[Deerfold]

I thought all Transdev companies were on Ticketer?

Nope. It's very annoying. I have 3 Transdev bus routes past my house. 2 I can use contactless on, the one run by Burnley I can't, so I have to remember that when catching my first bus of the day to either have cash or buy on the app in advance if that's the next bus due.

 

[Observer]

Grants were available in Scotland for the operators to move to Ticketer.

https://www.transport.gov.scot/public-transport/smart-and-integrated-ticketing/erdf-funding/

Difference is though that it is purely up to the operator to take them up, rather than the first time smart card machines were rolled out, where Transport Scotland gave the operator a choice of machine and supplied it for free. Therefore there will likely be plenty of operators who won't go contactless by this final phase.