Copying the capital: smartcard ticketing at work in West Yorkshire

The West Yorkshire Combined Authority has an ambitious plan to make MCard, its smartcard public transport ticket, as ubiquitous in the region as the Oystercard is in London but the task of making this dream a reality is proving to be by no means a straightforward one.

John Henkel, acting director of transport at the West Yorkshire Combined Authority

John Henkel, acting director of transport at the West Yorkshire Combined Authority

Smartcards have been in operation in West Yorkshire since the national concessionary ticketing scheme was introduced in 2008, but the expansion of the smartcard concept into other ticketing types has been on the slow but steady side

Smartcards have been in operation in West Yorkshire since the national concessionary ticketing scheme was introduced in 2008, but the expansion of the smartcard concept into other ticketing types has been on the slow but steady side

Councillor James Lewis, chair of the WYCA transport committee

Councillor James Lewis, chair of the WYCA transport committee

The West Yorkshire region has been looking hard at the introduction of smartcard public transport ticketing for some 10-15 years, John Henkel, acting director of transport at the West Yorkshire Combined Authority, concedes, but is only now starting to implement smartcard tickets on a widespread basis. So why has it taken so long to get things up and running?

“It’s due to a combination of factors,” Henkel says. “The world we operate in is quite complicated. We don’t...

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