Parkeon, the automatic fare collection specialist, has added a second ticketing platform to its fully certified range of ITSO compliant on-bus ticket systems.

The company has just received confirmation that the Wayfarer 200 ticket technology has achieved full certification to the ITSO standard, building on the accreditation already held for the Wayfarer 150 ETM.

The news confirms Parkeon's position as the UK's leading ticketing technology partner in all the major ITSO schemes in progress or under development.

"This is excellent news for the Parkeon engineers who have worked so hard to achieve this certification - but more importantly it ensures that the benefits of the ITSO standard are even more accessible for our customers," says Owen Griffith, UK AFC Managing Director at Parkeon.

"It is all the more significant because the Wayfarer 200 is an open platform that acts as true integrator for all on-vehicle systems."

Bus operators in Scotland and across the West Midlands will be among the first to benefit from the ITSO certification gained by the Wayfarer 2000. Installation programmes for both ITSO schemes are already underway. The Parkeon contract with Centro, the West Midlands Passenger Transport Authority, will see next generation ticket machines and associated back office technologies supplied to over 20 operators across the region.

Wayfarer ticket machines and card readers, coupled with data transfer systems and back office functionality, remain at the forefront of ITSO progress.  The technology has proven its worth in millions of ITSO transactions and is playing a key role in the implementation of the National Concessionary Travel Scheme in England and similar programmes in Scotland and Wales.

One of Britain's most successful ITSO projects is in the North West of England, where Blackpool Transport and NoWcard launched the world's first network-wide ITSO scheme. NoWcard is a complex project involving 1,800 buses, multiple operators and several councils. It runs around 1.7 million ITSO transactions every month, all handled by Parkeon's advanced Wayfarer ticketing technology. 

"Parkeon is the sole supplier of ticketing technology to the NoWcard Partnership and we are delighted to have played a part in the ongoing success of the scheme and, of course, in the Partnership's latest, well-deserved UK Bus Award for innovation," says Owen Griffith.

The company is also a key technology partner in the Transport Scotland Project, working with major bus operators such as Lothian Buses and National Express Dundee, to deliver the ITSO concessionary smartcard programme, opening up improved access to unlimited Scotland-wide free travel on buses at any time of the day

Parkeon is also working on ITSO projects with operators in Cheshire, Nottinghamshire, Hampshire and Yorkshire and across Wales.

www.parkeon.com