Paying for a bus at Proxim iTi, Haute-Savoie, France just became more convenient. Through collaboration between Famoco, Dataraxys, and Littlepay, Keolis Porte des Alpes now offers contactless payments on its bus network. 

Keolis Porte des Alpes is a transit operator with a presence in Haute-Savoie, a picturesque area in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region in Eastern France. The agency decided to upgrade its service by introducing contactless payments across its network of 37 buses to elevate the passenger experience and harness operational efficiencies. 

Partnerships driving Progress

Keolis Porte des Alpes had a head start thanks to its existing collaboration with Dataraxys, their fare collection and ticketing provider and Famoco validators. As one of Littlepay’s partners, Famoco was well-positioned to foster collaboration with Littlepay and Dataraxys to help Keolis Porte des Alpes achieve their contactless payments goals for Proxim iTi.

This team effort empowered Keolis Porte des Alpes to assemble a contactless fare collection system on the Famoco device and open payment app with Littlepay as the payment processor and Dataraxys as the ticketing and fare collection app provider.

“This pre-integrated joint solution was really fast to roll out on the field. Together we make a strong team: we were able to pull all the stops of a transit Open Payment project in record time and with the highest security standards in the industry.”

said Tahmina Amin-Nawabi, Manager Mobility Services at Famoco 

Elevating Open Loop Innovation

The result is a standard open loop solution enhanced with additional features. In this project, Famoco’s validator handles taps and Littlepay processes them, applying capping rules and submitting charges to the acquirer, Rapyd. This is supplemented by two additional Littlepay tools:

• Littlepay Traveller – a customer portal that gives passengers a clear view of trips, taps and fare caps.
• Littlepay Inspect API – a fare inspection app that enables the operator to check the validity of contactless payment methods for travel and deter fare evasion. This will be added in the next stage of the project.

Moreover, the new solution allows group travel for up to five passengers (adults) in conjunction with time-based capping for cost-effective access to the Proxim iTi network. 

“The Keolis Porte des Alpes project marks the first deployment for Littlepay and Famoco in the EU. This close collaboration between stakeholders resulted in a transformative solution, and provides a blueprint for other agencies to deploy contactless payments and harness the benefits.”

said Tomaž Račič, Business Development Manager at Littlepay