Bee Card is an

electronic ticket An electronic ticket is a method of ticket entry, processing, and marketing for companies in the airline, railways and other transport and entertainment industries. Airline ticket E-tickets in the airline industry were devised in about 1994, an ...

ing scheme under development by

Transport for Greater Manchester Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM) is a local government body responsible for co-ordinating transport services throughout Greater Manchester in North West England. It is an executive arm of the Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA), ...

(TfGM) for use on public transport services in

Greater Manchester Greater Manchester is a ceremonial county in North West England. It borders Lancashire to the north, Derbyshire and West Yorkshire to the east, Cheshire to the south, and Merseyside to the west. Its largest settlement is the city of Manchester. ...

, England. It was first announced and confirmed in June 2012 as get me there as an integrated travel card, comparable to London's

Oyster card The Oyster card is a Payment#Types_and_methods_of_payment, payment method for public transport in London and some surrounding areas. A standard Oyster card is a blue ISO/IEC 7810, credit-card-sized Stored-value card, stored-value contactless ...

, for Greater Manchester. following a bid from the

Greater Manchester Combined Authority The Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA) is a combined authority for Greater Manchester, England. It was established on 1 April 2011 and consists of 11 members: 10 indirectly elected members, each a directly elected councillor from one ...

History

Get me there is based upon trials of the Bolton Citizen Card smartcard that was issued to residents of the

Metropolitan Borough of Bolton The Metropolitan Borough of Bolton ( ) is a metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England, named after its largest town, Bolton, but covering a larger area which includes Blackrod, Farnworth, Horwich, Kearsley, Westhoughton, and part of ...

in 2007 as a pilot. It is valid on travel modes across Greater Manchester including buses, Metrolink and most

National Rail National Rail (NR) is the trading name licensed for use by the Rail Delivery Group, a group representing passenger train operating companies (TOCs) of England, Scotland, and Wales. The TOCs run the passenger services previously provided by ...

services within the jurisdiction of TfGM.

Use

People in Greater Manchester with existing concessionary travel passes were invited to test the scheme. Now, all concessionary pass holders are asked to start touching in and out when traveling using Metrolink. Season ticket holders were the first to be offered their own 'my get me there' card, and now all others can sign up for a card. Customers can use contactless credit/debit card with readers for simple journeys on Get Me There. However, they will not be able to store season tickets or take advantage of automatic cheapest fare functionality available to

smart card A smart card (SC), chip card, or integrated circuit card (ICC or IC card), is a card used to control access to a resource. It is typically a plastic credit card-sized card with an Embedded system, embedded integrated circuit (IC) chip. Many smart ...

users. The name get me there was revealed on 17 June 2013, with the scheme's dedicated travel card named my get me there.

Timescale

GMT was planned to be introduced on Metrolink services in 2014, Greater Manchester bus services in 2015, and was hoped to be introduced on National Rail services across Greater Manchester in 2017, when the new Northern rail franchise was confirmed. However, the scheme's introduction on Metrolink stalled after the first stage, as it became clear that

Atos Atos SE is a European multinational information technology (IT) service and consulting company with headquarters in Bezons suburb of Paris, France, and offices worldwide. It specialises in hi-tech transactional services, unified communicat ...

, who were contracted to deliver and operate the scheme, would not be able to manage the rollout on to trams. The contract was cancelled in August 2015, with significant contractual payments made to TfGM. Plans for introducing mobile phone-based ticketing on trams before the end of the year were announced in September 2015 along with continuing rollout of the GMT card on buses via System One, the Northern and

TransPennine Express TransPennine Trains Limited, trading as TransPennine Express (TPE), is a British train operating company that has operated passenger services in the TransPennine Express franchise area since May 2023. It runs regional and inter-city rail ser ...

rail franchises remain contractually obliged to roll out smart card use on trains as part of their franchise requirements and the northern PTEs as Rail North are doing preparatory work on a region wide smartcard. In 2023, get me there officially rebranded to Bee card after the rollout of

Bee Network The Bee Network is an integrated transport network for Greater Manchester, comprising bus, tram, cycling and walking routes. Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM) is expected to have commuter rail services joining the network in 2028. Initial ...

, offering the same services under a new name with a new website interface.

Reception

The GMT system has been criticised in the press as confusing and less flexible than London's Oyster card. Particular points of criticism include the requirement to buy Metrolink tickets for specific times, a long delay between purchasing a ticket online and the ticket becoming usable, and a lack of clarity regarding the distinction between the smartcard and the accompanying app, which are two independent systems.

References

External links

Official website of get me there
{{Transport in Greater Manchester Transport in Greater Manchester Contactless smart cards Fare collection systems in the United Kingdom