The ATRON upgrade enables contactless payment in the entire BVG bus fleet

Since the start of the project in November 2019, the ATRON electronic GmbH has upgraded over 2,100 AFR 4 series board computers in Berlin. Contactless payment is now possible in the bus fleet of the Berliner Verkehrsbetriebe (BVG). The Corona hygiene requirements in the vehicles thus can kept even more efficiently.

In addition to efficiency and customer friendliness, sustainability also plays an important role in public transport. As part of the requirement to enable contactless payment in all buses, we made the conscious decision to upgrade the more than 2,100 AFR 4 series on-board computers already installed. In addition to saving costs, this also saved resources. With a new EMV reader, the proven devices were perfectly upgraded for the requirements of modern contactless ticketing.

Due to the seamless integration of the update into the familiar operating procedure of the AFR 4, only a short briefing is necessary for the driving personnel. In future, passengers can intuitively hold out their debit or credit card or smartphone when purchasing tickets. Payments via Google and Apple Pay are also supported. Contactless payment not only increases convenience for passengers, but also significantly speeds up the boarding process, thus ensuring more punctuality and timetable stability.

As the upgrade was carried out in the central workshop of BVG during regular operations, a close cooperation between the depots and the ATRON team was necessary. Due to intelligent planning and good cooperation, more than 120 vehicles could be converted per week. By using new software after the upgrade, it had to be ensured that both the updated and the older versions of the on-board computers could continue to run in daily operation. In addition to upgrading the on-board computers, a new accounting system also had to be connected.

"It was only possible to keep to the tight schedule because of the close and trustful cooperation between BVG and ATRON," says Carsten Rossow, ATRON project manager.