Smart technology a first for concession cards

Folk on the OIC’s concessionary travel scheme for older and disabled people will soon be using “smart cards” to claim their ferry travel concessions.

New travel cards will be delivered to eligible people next week to replace the former voucher system, along with a question and answer leaflet on how to use the card.

The new cards can be used from April 1. The current voucher scheme will run until the end of March.

The new cards will use ‘smart’ technology to hold all the necessary information to replace the vouchers including photo ID. It will track the number of free trips left for each cardholder, and will be automatically ‘reloaded’ with entitlements each year.