“Ticketless” access to Milan’s subway and other potential tariff reforms

From June 2018, passengers and commuters through the Metro in Milan will be able to pay for their journey using their credit card wirelessly.  Azienda Trasporti Milanesi SpA (ATM), the main public transport provider in Milan recently announced that initially, in each station there will only be one turnstile equipped with the software to read cards, as the service will be experimental in the first phase.

The new system is expected to provide and promote innovative ways to purchase tickets, like e-payments, and possibly help to limit the number of passengers caught without a valid ticket for their journey.  Over 200,000 fines were reportedly imposed in 2017,  which is 12% more than in 2016. In the first quarter of 2018, the number of penalty fines  imposed had increased by 20.4% compared to the same period in 2017 and by 35% compared to the first quarter in 2016.

Further reforms to tariffs are currently under evaluation and may be implemented in 2019. The Municipality of Milan declared the London and Munich experiences might be taken as references, in particular their system of "concentric rings" for the calculation of public transport fares. Meanwhile, a couple of options are already circulating on how the municipal territory of Milan could be divided, counting two or three circles. The final study, including economic simulations, will be ready and spread in June 2018.

Source: Story first published in April on Il Giorno