Thirty-five years of fare collection technology are being celebrated at Coach and Bus Live by Parkeon – three decades of innovation that have transformed the UK bus industry through a smart ticketing revolution.

Interestingly, the company's product range actually had its roots in taxi-meters, but it was in 1982, when the Wayfarer1 ETM was launched, that the Wayfarer name began its long association with the bus industry. A year later, the upgraded Wayfarer2 was unveiled, followed in 1986 by the UK's first magnetic card validator system....an innovation that heralded the first tentative steps towards smart ticketing technology.

In 1988, the iconic Wayfarer3 made its entrance – an ETM so robust that even today it remains in service among many operators – followed in the 1990s by innovation after innovation, as smart contact ETMs foreshadowed contactless technology. In 1998, London selected the new Prestige TG150 for 6,000 buses...at that time the world's biggest order.

With the new century came new and smarter ETMs, such as the landmark WayfarerTGX150 - technology that broadened the Wayfarer product reach right around the world, extending into complex multi-modal schemes as far afield as Perth in Australia.

Then, in 2005 , the WayfarerTGX150 became the first ETM in the world to gain ITSO certification, as policy-makers focused on rolling out the advantages of an integrated standard that would enable seamless public transport around Britain.

With the 2008 arrival of the Wayfarer200 – and with it the ability to provide comprehensive on-vehicle systems integration – the company's ETM's took on a much greater operational significance, boasting functionality way beyond the issuing of tickets and the reading of smartcards. Two years later, another first arrived with the achievement of the latest ITSO v2.1.4 standard.

Today, Parkeon's Wayfarer ETMs lead the way in dual reading both ITSO concessionary smartcards and operators' proprietary commercial schemes, with top-up enabled on-bus, on-street, over-the-counter and via the internet. In-built GPS and GPRS functionality is linked to Real Time Information systems and many operators choose to integrate the ETM with other systems, such as CCTV and vehicle and fuel efficiency monitoring.

In the back office, Parkeon has developed a holistic approach to operational reporting, system set-up and data analysis, with comprehensive device configuration software tools empowering customers to make device changes without recourse to Parkeon.

Furthermore, Parkeon has developed a managed service that provides the ITSO back office architecture (HOPS) for individual operators, which means that bus companies are able to benefit from the BSOG uplift linked to ITSO related technologies. As a result, it's easy to see why Parkeon has the broadest ITSO coverage in the UK.

"All this is made possible by continuous investment in R&D and in the engineering innovations delivered by some of the smartest minds in the industry," says Parkeon Transit's Managing Director Owen Griffith. "What also sets us apart is our ability to work closely with our customers to deliver end-to-end solutions - having our teams located in the UK means we are able to understand their specific requirements and be responsive to their needs."

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Philip Colley, Harvest. Tel: 023 9244 9655 / 07785 306378 / This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it / twitter: @harvestprman