16 November 2017
PDMS is pleased to announce that it has received certification from ITSO for its mobile ticketing device which is a key component of its mobile smart ticketing software solution. Official ITSO certification now gives the green light to a number of pilot smart card projects with customers including Orkney Ferries and the Shetland Islands Council.
ITSO is the national specification for smart ticketing and was developed to ensure that public operators throughout Great Britain can develop compatible smart ticketing systems. PDMS is an ITSO Registered Supplier and has been working on a solution, in partnership with Unicard, to deliver a smart ticketing solution for its ferry customers in Scotland.
Scottish Enterprise have supported PDMS throughout the certification process with funding to help undertake the work required to achieve certification of the Bluebird device and to enhance its Compass ferry reservation and ticketing system to allow the retail and validation of Smart tickets.
David Stickland, Commercial Director PDMS Transport & Ticketing, commented “Achieving ITSO certification is an important milestone for PDMS’ smart ticketing solutions and we are looking forward to working with our customers to help join up journeys across the transport network in Scotland. The grant assistance and account management support received from Scottish Enterprise has been a big boost in terms of helping to progress this nationally important project”.
Shetland Islands Council now want to progress with a Shetland Travel card using the technology for ferry and bus travel and Orkney Ferries are looking to make their current concessionary smartcard solution ITSO compliant. With an ITSO solution Orkney would be able to add their products directly to the NEC/Saltire card instead of issuing their own cards. A single card is much more convenient for the traveller and reduces administration costs for the operator.
PDMS will be progressing pilots with other ferry operators in Scotland and all will be based upon adding products to the NEC/Saltire card.