And finally…Scots refuse to get smart on travel

More than half of consumers, 53 per cent, want to use paper tickets while 37 per cent would prefer to use some form of technology, according to a new PwC report.

The report - PwC’s Smarter Moves – shows that 48 per cent of Scots surveyed would use a smart ticket if they were offered a 10 per cent discount on the travel costs and 44 per cent would use one if the smart ticket guaranteed the lowest price for travelling.

The report puts Scotland in considerable contrast to London where smart ticket usage has already reached 91 per cent and comes as the ScotRail Alliance plan a summer roll-out of smart ticketing across their entire network.

Indeed, there’s a clear divide in the UK with high adoption in London but only 20 per cent outside the UK capital using smart products and technologies.

There is a risk that operators are not keeping pace with consumer demands, as PwC partner and transport specialist, Grant Klein, said: “With rapid growth in disruptive factors such as contactless bank cards and wearable technology over the last 12 months, there is a real sense of change among customers using public transport services across the UK. They expect these new technologies to be used for all their bus and rail journeys, and for this to be joined up to take away some of the hassle factor of ticketing.

“It’s clear that smart technology has the potential not only to support increased public transport use but to reduce operator costs, particularly where there is greater collaboration and sharing of services among public transport organisations. This is particularly true outside of London where integrated ticketing requires joining up between city authorities, train operators and bus companies.”