Tap&Go Fare Capping

We’ve introduced a new range of Tap&Go fares on our services in the West Midlands and Worcestershire.

If you are looking for flexible fares rather than buying tickets or period passes Tap&Go is for you!

With Tap&Go, you simply Tap On the bus when you board with your contactless card or device, then simply Tap Off again when you leave the bus. Do this each time you travel on our services and we’ll calculate the best fare for the journeys you have taken.

As part of our new flexible fares options you will be able to cap at Single, Day and Week fares. We will also be offering a new Tap&Go 3-day capped ticket in our West Midlands Zone. Tap&Go is the ideal solution if your working patterns have changed recently and you dont need to travel all week long.

Tap&Go fares are capped at Adult prices, Child fare capping is not available, however there are still lots of ways for youngsters to get great value travel with Diamond Bus, standard Child tickets will remain on-board or why not try buying M-tickets through the Diamond Bus App, which has cheaper options on selected tickets.

We are committed to offering the best value prices for travel on our services, which is why we are excited to introduce this new feature into our ticketing range. It allows the passenger to be flexible with the number of days they travel and where they travel to, as our system will also calculate which fares zones you have travelled in and charge you the appropriate fare.

You don’t have to decide which product to buy before you travel, There’s no need to carry a ticket with you, just remember for the best value – Tap On and Tap Off with the same payment card each time and we’ll work it out for you!

How Tap&Go works

When you board the bus, Tap your payment card/device onto the ticket machine card reader at the front of the bus.
The machine will Beep to let you know the card has been accepted (if your card is rejected for any reason a Buzzer will sound – See FAQs below)
A ticket will not be issued, simply go and take your seat.
When you leave the bus, remember to Tap Off on the reader next to the door. The screen on the Tap Off reader will say ‘Card Accepted’ and the drivers ETM will beep to let them know you have tapped off
Do this each time you travel with us and we will calculate the correct fare for the journeys you have made.
Always remember to Tap Off, when you exit the bus, as the system uses your Tap On & Tap Off to calculate the correct fare. If you do not Tap Off on a service, you will be charged the full route rate, regardless of your alighting point
Remember to always Tap on and Tap off with the same payment card/device to ensure you are charged correctly. If you use a different payment card/device you will be charged more.

How will I be charged?

Day travel caps (All Zones):

Journey 1 – You will be charged a Single fare for the journey you have made
Journey 2 – You will be charged either another single journey or the Day Cap rate, depending which option is the cheaper fare.
If you Tap On and Tap Off on further journeys that day, your charge will then be capped at the end of the day, to the Day rate for the zone you have travelled in.
Your remaining journeys for that day will be free of charge, unless you travel into another fare zone (your charge will then be capped at the day price for the zones you have travelled in)

3-day travel caps (West Midlands Region)

If you travel for any 3 days within one week (Monday to Sunday) in our West Midlands region
Your charge will then automatically be capped at the 3-day rate for the zone(s) you have travelled in.

Week travel caps (All Zones):

If you Tap On and Tap Off for additional days during that week, your charge will then be automatically calculated to charge you at the Week Cap rate for the zone(s) you have travelled in.

If you want to know more about our Tap&Go fares, take a look at our FAQs below:

Tap&Go FAQS.

Whats the difference between Contactless Payment & Tap&Go?

With Contactless Payment, you request a specific ticket from the driver, Once the driver has selected the ticket(s) you require, you then pay for that ticket by tapping your payment card/device on the ticket machine reader and your required ticket(s) is issued for you to carry with you.

With Tap&Go you do not need to request a ticket or tell the driver where you want to travel to, you simply Tap On the reader when boarding and Tap Off when leaving the bus – our system will record all the journeys you make and debit your card at the end of the day.

If you wish to make an actual ticket purchase using contactless payment, please wait until the driver has selected your required ticket(s) and asks you to present your payment card/device to the reader to avoid being charged a Tap&Go fare.

Why aren’t Child fares available?

Tap&Go readers are unable to distinguish if an Adult or Child presents a payment device to the reader, therefore only Adult fares are available on Tap&Go. Onboard tickets and Mobile app tickets are available for the purchase of child tickets.

Can I still buy a normal ticket on the bus?

Yes, normal bus tickets are still available – if you know you wish to purchase a single, day, week or month ticket you can still ask the driver for a ticket and pay using cash or contactless payment. Tap&Go is ideal if you think your travel plans might change or do not need a period pass. Its also convenient as you don’t need to carry a ticket around with you – simply Tap&Go!

Can I pay for more than one person with Tap&Go?

No, each person travelling must present a separate payment card for the journeys they are making. The reader will not accept the same payment card/device for a second Tap On after recording a first tap.

I forgot to Tap Off the bus

If you forget to TapOff the bus, the reader will charge you the full single fare for that whole route. If you Tap On another service later the same day, the reader will then calculate the day ticket rate for the whole route of your first journey and where you Tap On and Tap Off on your second journey. If you do not Tap Off on a cross boundary service, you will be charged the full route rate, regardless of your alighting point.

How will an inspector know I have paid for my travel?

If an inspector requests a ticket check for your journey when you have used Tap&Go, they will ask you for the last 4 digits of your card number or your device card number which will be checked against a list printed from the bus you are on.

If you use Apple Pay: The last 4 digits of the Apple Pay device can be found in 'Wallet and Apple Pay' from 'Settings', select the card then click on 'Info' and it will display the Device Account Number.

If you use Android Pay: The last 4 digits of the Android Pay device, can be found in the Android Pay app, select the card and it will display the Virtual Account Number.

My payment card/device did not work

If your card is rejected for any reason a Buzzer will sound. There are a few reasons why a card may not work. Unfortunately, our driver will not know the reason for a card not being accepted. Some of the reasons why a card may not work include:

Your Card is outside of the validity dates i.e. expired
Your Card is not a contactless card (look for the contactless logo)
Your Card type is not accepted e.g. Maestro American Express
Your Card hasn't been approved by the bank for the transaction
Your Bank requires you to perform a chip and pin transaction before a contactless transaction can be made
You may not have sufficient funds in your account
Your mobile device has not been set up correctly to use Apple Pay or Android Pay or you are not using the Apps to support the payment properly.

If you expect your card to work and it doesn’t, please contact your bank for advice.

If your card is rejected for any reason our driver will ask you to pay another way.

How much will I be charged?

Take a look at our fare capping table to see what Tap&Go charges are in place for within and cross boundary travel on our services.

I have a query on the payment you have taken

If you have a query about a payment that has been made using your card or device, you can check your recent transactions at our payment providers customer portal. At the Littlepay Customer Portal, simply type in your card details and the transactions made in the last 14 days will be listed for you.

You can access the Littlepay Customer Portal here: https://mytrips.uk.littlepay.com/diamond-bus

If you have a query regarding any of those transactions, please email the following information to comments@diamondbuses.com
1. Date(s) of the payment in query
2. The first 6 digits and last 4 digits of your payment card number (Eg. Card Number: 1234 56** **** 1234) or your device card number.
3. Which services you travelled on and what dates you travelled with us.

Our customer services department will then look into this for you.

I have a different query

If you have any other queries about Tap&Go, please email comments@diamondbuses.com and our customer services department will be able look into the query for you.

Using Fare Capping on Diamond Bus and National Express Buses

Please note, if you pay for your journey on a National Express Bus using their Tap & Cap Contactless or Tap&Go on a Diamond Bus, you will not be able to swap between operators, and you may be charged twice if you tap on both operators services.
For cross operator fare capping options we recommend using a Swift Go Card, which allows for multiple operator fare capping.
You can purchase a physical nBus day ticket onboard a Diamond Bus using contactless payment. Simply ask the driver for an nBus Day ticket and tap your payment card when prompted by the driver, this will issue a bus ticket which is accepted on multiple operators in the nBus Scheme.

Please note Tap&Go is not currently available on Diamond East Midlands, Diamond South East or Diamond North West services.