The Compagnie des transports strasbourgeois is experimenting with a process for purchasing “one-way” tickets, by passing your bank card through a dedicated validation terminal. The generalization of this new system is planned for next fall.
than a one-way ticket on paper purchased for the first time.
A bank card to beep in front of a purple and black validator, and that’s it. This is the gesture that occasional users of line C3 and then of line G will be able to make, respectively from February 23 and the end of March, to purchase, on board or at the platform, a one-way ticket valid on the Compagnie des transports strasbourgeois network, connection within the hour included. “These lines were selected because of their attendance, their timing and the appropriate number of vehicles in circulation on them,” underlines Emmanuel Auneau, general director of the CTS. The experimental phase will continue until April 30, before generalizing this payment method next October to the entire network.
To offer greater fluidity and simplicity to one-off travelers, while maintaining its current sales channels (distributors, app, CTS relay), the operator has launched a call for tenders to deploy a so-called “open payment” service. The solution is supported, for the technical part, by the company Arrive, based in Besançon, and by the Strasbourg banking group Crédit Mutuel for the financial transaction part. The system allows you to purchase up to four one-way tickets at the same time with the contactless technology of a physical or dematerialized bank card. “All without having to create an account and even with the possibility of obtaining a bank receipt via a web portal,” explains Marion Woessner. The CTS customer relations and business development director points out that it is also possible “to purchase a ticket for immediate departure when taking a bus or tram but that this requires downloading the CTS app”.
Secure operation
“For the user and the CTS, the payment is anonymous and security is guaranteed,” indicates Maurice Zirnhelt, general manager of Crédit Mutuel Center Est Europe, whose group already provides the open payment service for transport operators in around twenty cities in France. “When checking transport tickets on board, CTS agents will only have access, on the bank card used for payment, to information relating to the station and the time when the ticket was used,” reassures Marion Woessner.
Ultimately, around 1,000 open payment validators will be installed on platforms and on buses. Once the solution has been deployed across the entire network, and given the ease of use of this new service and the success it has had in the cities in which it is available, one casual title in five should be sold via this channel. “We wanted to get closer to an existing solution on the market to avoid additional development costs,” explains Thierry Laurent, IT project manager at CTS.
The CTS is injecting nine million euros into this project, for investment and operating costs over ten years.
Lucie Dupin
date: 2026-02-13 18:15:00