Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM), in partnership with technology transformation consultancy Softwire, has designed and built the customer-facing experience for the UK’s first dedicated travel card to be integrated into Apple Wallet.
Our Pass gives 16 to 18-year-olds who live in Greater Manchester free bus travel, selected half-price tram tickets and access to exclusive local offers. More than 50,000 young people currently use the scheme. Members apply for and manage the pass through Transport for Greater Manchester’s Bee Network app, which also provides journey planning, live travel information and mobile ticketing.
Transport for Greater Manchester’s partner Softwire combined experience design and front-end engineering to turn a complex integration into a simple passenger experience. The team built prompts that let existing pass holders add Our Pass to Apple Wallet, created the set-up for newly approved members and enabled half-price off-peak tram tickets to be loaded onto the same card.
READ MORE: Jaguar Land Rover confirms redundancies as Trump tariffs and Iran conflict bite
Working closely with TfGM, Softwire connected the features with TfGM’s back-end ticketing systems while meeting Apple Wallet’s technical and design requirements.
For every Our Pass in Apple Wallet, Softwire’s front end links the user’s Bee Network app to the NFC-enabled travel card. Meanwhile, ticket information is encrypted and stored in the Secure Element, an industry-standard, certified chip designed to store the information safely on the device.
When a user taps their device at a ticket reader, Express Mode removes the need to unlock a device or open an app. Apple does not see or track Bee Network transactions or passengers’ journeys. The ITSO-certified, smart-card format reduces fraud risk and gives TfGM the opportunity to offer a wider range of passes and tickets through Apple Wallet.
Rana Sezgin, delivery director at Softwire, said: “Good technology makes difficult things feel easy. Once Our Pass is added to Apple Wallet, young people can tap their iPhone or Apple Watch to travel. With Express Mode enabled, there is no need to unlock their device or open an app.”
“Behind that tap is detailed work across experience design, front-end engineering and ticketing systems. We’re proud to have contributed to a UK first that makes travel easier for young people and creates the potential for TfGM to offer more passes and tickets in the same way.”
Fran Wilkinson, customer and growth director at Transport for Greater Manchester, added: “We are so excited to make Greater Manchester the first place in the UK to offer a dedicated travel card in Apple Wallet. This will make using Our Pass easier and more convenient for young people.
“The Bee Network continues to make it easier for people to get around our growing region. We are constantly looking for ways to embrace the latest technology to help with that and using Our Pass in Apple Wallet on iPhone and Apple Watch is the latest example.”
Our Pass in Apple Wallet is initially available on compatible iPhone and Apple Watch devices.
