Confidex, a provider of contactless smart tickets and specialty RFID tags, announced that the company is supplying several million contactless smart tickets for two years to one of the largest European public transportation operators, ACTV in Venice, Italy.

ACTV S.p.A. operates land- and water-based public transportation throughout the province of Venice, with the primary mode of transport being the waterbus, or vaporetto. To enable a faster, smoother flow of passengers, ACTV employs contactless smart tickets from Confidex throughout Venice’s waterbus routes – a city that sees more than 20 million tourists a year. In total, ACTV operates 600 land buses and 160 waterbuses, carrying nearly 200 million passengers per year in and around Venice.

Due to the tremendous volume of passenger traffic carried by the waterbuses daily, ACTV says it required a system offering speed, ease of use, reliability and security, as well as a provider capable of delivering ticketing products for its changing needs. “Besides designing and manufacturing high quality smart tickets, Confidex offers a full range of other services, including industry-leading turnaround times for changing ticket artworks, efficient customer communication through dedicated team, full end-to-end traceability, unmatched personalization options and capabilities, and flexible ticket deliveries according to customer needs,” the company says.

“We designed an affordable ticketing solution for ACTV that ensures tickets with enhanced durability to resist normal wear and tear in humid conditions, security against fraud, and full compliance with ACS automatic fare collection machines,” says Pierre Chadebech, senior director for Confidex Smart Ticketing. “The tickets are customized with visually appealing advertisements to promote seasonal tourist activities in Venice, and the transit tickets are often programmed to also allow access to events, festivals or casinos with varying fare schedules, per the customer’s wishes.”

ACTV uses several different configurations of smart tickets from Confidex, including single tickets, reel tickets, fanfold and a unique custom size design with visual personalization. “We have a very good relationship with Confidex,” says Emanuele Filippi, director of ACTV’s administration and control. “Their communication was responsive and functional, ticket deliveries matched the schedules agreed, and the products provided have been of good quality.”

According to Confidex, contactless tickets deliver improved ease of use, security and reliability versus magnetic stripe tickets or cards. Additionally, they enable reduced maintenance costs because the tickets are waved over the reader instead of inserted, resulting in improved passenger flow and user satisfaction.