The North East Smart Ticketing Initiative November 2015 The NESTI programme is funded and/or supported by the 12 Local Authorities in the North East, NECA, Nexus and the major public transport operators in the Region. Local Authorities DURHAM C O U N T Y C O U N C I L Public transport operators serving the North East serving Northumbria popcard.org.uk
Pop Pay As You Go What is Pop Pay As You Go? Pop Pay As You Go (PAYG) is the brand new and exciting way to pay for public transport in North East England. Simply top up your Pop PAYG card and use it to pay for your journeys as you make them. Where can I buy a Pop PAYG card? Buy your Pop PAYG card from a Payzone store or Nexus TravelShop. Go to payzone.co.uk/where or nexus.org.uk/travelshops to find your closest shop. A Pop PAYG card costs 5. How do I top up my Pop PAYG card? When you need to top up your Pop PAYG card you can add up to a maximum balance of 90. Top up at: Payzone stores (payzone.co.uk/where) popcard.org.uk and load your purchase onto your Pop PAYG card at a Metro station validator, gate or ticket machine. Metro station ticket machines Nexus TravelShops (nexus.org.uk/travelshops) Where can I use my Pop PAYG card? You can use Pop PAYG on Metro, on selected bus services* and the Shields Ferry. Pop PAYG works differently on Metro, bus and ferry, see below for more details. Pop PAYG is valid on services in Northumberland, Tyne and Wear, County Durham and Teesside. On buses*- pay for single, return and day tickets from the driver using your Pop PAYG balance. On Metro - pay for your trip by touching in at the Metro station validator or gate at the start of your journey and touching out at the end. You ll only pay for the journey you have made and we ll calculate the best fare for you. On the Shields Ferry - pay for single and day tickets from the ferry operator using your Pop PAYG balance. *See the Help section on popcard.org.uk for details of which bus services now accept Pop PAYG. Is there anything I should do before I use my Pop PAYG card? Yes, go to our online Pop Shop at popcard.org.uk to register your Pop PAYG card and set up a Pop Shop account. Why should I register my card? Registering your card allows you to top up your Pop PAYG card online and load your purchase onto it at Metro stations. It also means that it is protected - if it s lost or stolen, you can report it to us and we can block the card so that nobody else can use it. We can then transfer any remaining balance back into your Pop Shop account
ready for you to load onto a new Pop PAYG card. If you don t register your Pop PAYG card and it's lost or stolen you will lose your balance. How do I check my Pop PAYG balance? You can check your balance quickly and easily: online at popcard.org.uk (it can take up to 48 hours for this to be up to date) by using the Pop card checker app (visit Google Play and search for Pop card checker) at any Metro station ticket machine on your bus or ferry ticket when you use Pop PAYG on the Metro station gate or validator every time you touch out. What if my Pop PAYG card has a negative balance? On buses and the Shields Ferry, you can continue to travel until your balance is 3.50. On Metro, you can t start a journey if your Pop PAYG card has a negative balance (ie less than zero), so you need to top up your Pop PAYG card balance or find another way to pay for your journey. If your card is in credit when you touch in at a Metro station, we ll give you one last trip to make sure you can get to where you need to be, even if making another journey will take your card into a negative balance. Your card then can t be used again until you top it up. What if I realise that Pop PAYG isn t for me? If you change your mind about using a Pop PAYG card, and have registered your card at popcard.org.uk, you can apply for a refund via Nexus Customer Services. See the Help section of popcard.org.uk for terms and conditions. What is Pop Shop? Pop Shop - popcard.org.uk - is the place to go to: register your card to protect your balance top up your balance - if you re going to load your purchase onto your Pop PAYG card at a Metro station close any Metro journeys where you didn t touch in or out report a card as lost or stolen change your details Contact If you ve got any queries: check the help pages and FAQs at nexus.org.uk/pop watch the how to guides at nexus.org.uk/pop ask staff at Metro stations, in Nexus TravelShops or the bus driver or ferry operator get in touch via nexus.org.uk/contactus call 0191 20 20 747
Using Pop PAYG on buses How does Pop PAYG work on buses? On buses, you use the balance on your Pop PAYG card to buy your normal single, return or day ticket from the driver. Simply tell the bus driver which ticket you want to buy using the balance on your Pop PAYG card, then touch your Pop PAYG card onto the reader on the ticket machine. Take your ticket from the machine as normal. The cost of the ticket will be deducted from your Pop PAYG balance. Your new balance will be printed on your ticket. Please note that, unlike on Metro, there is no daily price cap for journeys on buses. Which buses can I use Pop PAYG on? You can use Pop PAYG on selected bus services with more services being added regularly - check the Help section of popcard.org.uk for the most up to date list.
Using Pop PAYG on Metro How does Pop PAYG work on Metro? On Metro you need to touch in at the start of your journey and touch out at the end. You do this by touching your Pop PAYG card onto the reader on the yellow Metro station validator or the orange card reader on the Metro station gates even if they re open. If you don't do this, you won't have a validated smartcard and you could be issued with a Penalty Fare Notice. When you touch in at the start of your journey, we deduct up to 3.30 from your Pop PAYG balance. When you touch out at the end of your journey, we calculate the cheapest fare for that journey and then adjust your balance. Please note that, unlike on buses and the Shields Ferry, you can't use your Pop PAYG card to buy tickets from Metro station ticket machines. How much does it cost? Pop PAYG is cheaper than adult single and DaySaver tickets. You can travel as many times as you like in a day. Your card is charged each time you travel until you reach the daily price cap for the number of zones you ve travelled in. You ll never pay more than the daily price cap for the number of zones you ve travelled in that day. For example, if you made 3 trips across all zones on Metro, we automatically calculate your fare and will charge you 4.40. This is 20p cheaper than if you had bought a DaySaver from the ticket machine and 5.80 cheaper than buying 3 single tickets. Metro fares Pop Pay As You Go Cash Single Daily cap Single DaySaver 1 Zone 1.70 2.50 1.80 2.70 2 Zone 2.60 3.50 2.70 3.70 All Zones 3.30 4.40 3.40 4.60 Please note that if you re using your Pop PAYG card more than 3 or 4 days a week, it might be cheaper to buy a MetroSaver. See nexus.org.uk/metro for more information. What happens if I can't touch in or out? If you can't touch in or out, your journey will be incomplete and you may be charged a maximum fare. You should make your journey as planned, and touch in or out where you can. You should then log into your Pop Shop account and follow the instructions to 'close your journey'. What happens if I forget to touch in or out? If you don t touch in or out, your journey will be incomplete and you may be charged a maximum fare. Because we don t know where you either started or ended your journey, we are unable to calculate the cheapest fare, so we deduct a maximum fare of up to 3.30 from your balance for that journey. If you forget to touch in or out, log into your Pop Shop account and follow the instructions to close your journey. You can only ask us to close your journey once a calendar month, so remember to touch in and out.
Using Pop PAYG on the Shields Ferry How does PAYG work on the ferry? Just tell the ferry operator which ticket you want to buy, and then touch your Pop PAYG card on to the reader on the ticket machine. Take your ticket from the machine as normal. The cost of the ticket will be deducted from your Pop PAYG balance. Your new balance will be printed on your ticket. If you're travelling on Metro after your journey on the ferry, you can buy a Metro DaySaver using your Pop PAYG balance on board the ferry. If you're travelling on Metro before you travel on the ferry though, buy your Metro DaySaver (A+B+C) from a Metro station ticket machine (ie don't use your Pop PAYG card). Please note that, unlike on Metro, there is no daily price cap for journeys on the Shields Ferry. Which ferry services can I use Pop PAYG on? Use the balance on your Pop PAYG card to pay for single and day tickets on the Shields Ferry service between North and South Shields.