Issue - meetings

(1)       The progress of the Swift Programme was welcomed.

(2)       The delivery of the Swift pilot in Redditch which was successfully launched on the 10 January 2018 was welcomed.

(3)       It was agreed that TfWM would begin discussions with all other non-constituent members of the WMCA to enable the development of a programme that would see, subject to their agreement, the rollout of Swift into their areas.

Councillor Roger Lawrence presented a report that provided a progress update on the Swift programme and highlighted the recent launch of Swift in Redditch with the aim of gaining agreement for the next steps that would see Swift rolled out across all non-constituent authority areas.

Swift was the largest smartcard scheme in the UK outside London, with 189,000 unique users accessing buses, trains and trams across the West Midlands. There were more than 35m journeys undertaken with the Swift card in 2017, a growth of 60% on 2016. In January, the Swift card launched in Redditch and already 1,000 journeys had been undertaken. As well as continuing to work with Redditch to further develop the offer, the Swift team were designing a catalogue of options to present to other non-constituent authorities.

Councillor Bill Hartnett thanked the Swift team for the work that they had undertaken to launch the smartcard in Redditch, and reported an increasing awareness of it amongst the public which he was encouraged by.

Resolved:

(1)       The progress of the Swift Programme be welcomed;

(2)       The delivery of the Swift pilot in Redditch, which was successfully launched on the 10 January 2018, be welcomed; and

(3)       It be agreed that Transport for West Midlands would begin discussions with all other non-constituent members of the West Midlands Combined Authority to enable the development of a programme that would see, subject to their agreement, the rollout of Swift into their areas.