Skip to main content

Flowbird helps Minneapolis go contactless 

Kerbside kiosks replaced with multi-use terminals to pay for transport and parking services
By Ben Spencer April 9, 2021 Read time: 2 mins
Flowbird says payments will be enabled on Metro Transit’s BRT system (© Robert Mullan | Dreamstime.com)

Flowbird has replaced kerbside kiosks in the US city of Minneapolis with 700 CWT touch multi-use terminals, enabling contactless payment technology for transport and parking services. 

Flowbird says the terminals offer citizens a range of payment options, including contactless credit or debit card, or a digital wallet such as Apple Pay and Google Pay. 

This enables payments for on-and-off street parking in the Minneapolis/St. Paul region and for off-board fare collection for Metro Transit’s bus rapid transit (BRT) system, the company adds. 

Flowbird's solar-powered terminals are equipped with full-colour touch displays that resemble the look and feel of a tablet. 

The kiosks wirelessly communicate to Flowbird’s analytics platform to help the city analyse urban mobility activity. 

Plans are also underway to deploy Flowbird's ticketing terminals across the city’s Orange line light rail system and its D-Line Bus Rapid Transit network over the next two years.

In 2016, Metro Transit procured the current Flowbird system for off-board fare collection on its A-Line BRT to help quicken boarding times at each station.

The terminals are managed using Flowbird’s cloud-based back office with bank card transactions processed through its ArchiPEL banking solution. 

Transaction and alert information is communicated to the central system in real-time for reporting and maintenance purposes. 
 

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Denmark calls on Neology for LEZ
    March 22, 2021
    Neology's Clean Air as a Service portfolio is used by Danish road authority Sund & Baelt
  • Conduent extends contactless payment system in Mexico
    September 7, 2018
    Conduent is extending its contactless card payment system to Line 3 of on Puebla’s Red Urbana de Transporte Articulado (RUTA) bus rapid transit system in Mexico. The upgrade is being carried out over the summer and will replace all free-standing ticket machines. Conduent’s system will allow riders to tap their phone or Puebla contactless card at validators. The solution will also replace inspector terminals, validators and access control gates. According to Conduent, all three lines will receive fleet
  • Ticketless travel for London’s commuters?
    April 4, 2013
    London's commuters will be able to use their mobile phones and bank cards for travel across the city, if Transport for London's (TfL) plans come to fruition. Thousands of London bus users already pay their fares using contactless bank cards instead of TfL Oyster cards, which have been widely used over the past decade. Users pay different charges for different London Underground zones and for train travel, so TfL has to decide on suitable payment mechanisms, and could drive the widespread adoption of systems
  • Moovit mines Sydney's Opal upgrade
    June 24, 2022
    Travel improvements in Australian city are part of wider investment by state government