tap on, tap off
1 month ago
Tap on, tap off is on Newbury & District!
It's the easiest and quickest way to to pay for your journey.
With tap on tap off, you no longer need to worry about choosing the best ticket for your journey; this will automatically be done for you as you travel.
You can now use this easier way to pay on all Newbury & District bus routes. The only exceptions are football services, dedicated school services and Flightline 730/731.
the simple (and cheapest) way to pay
Check out this short video to see how tap on tap off works!
how does it work?
When you get on, simply tap your contactless bank card or mobile device on the reader. You won’t need to ask the driver for a ticket or say where you are heading – but you can always say hello!
There’s no ticket to take, so just find yourself a seat and enjoy the journey.
When you get to your stop, simply tap off with the same card or mobile device that you used when getting on using the reader located by the door.
At the end of the day our system will automatically work out how many buses you have travelled on that day and charge you accordingly – always capping the price at the day ticket rate.
It’s important to remember to always tap on and tap off otherwise you may find yourself charged more for your journey.
avoiding card clash
If you are paying with a physical card, you should always make sure you take it out of your wallet or purse to avoid ‘card clash’ – where the system is trying to read more than one card at a time. If you don’t take your card out, the system may charge the wrong card resulting in you paying more or will simply not work delaying your journey.
what is the most I’ll pay?
That depends on the zone you are travelling in.
If you only make one journey, you will just be charged the single fare. If you then make another journey, it will add another single fare to the total. If this is less than the day ticket price, you would be charged for two single fares. If it is more than the day ticket price of the zone you are travelling in, you would be capped at the day ticket price. Any further journeys within the same zone would then not be charged as you have been capped at the day ticket price.
Tap on tap off can also work out the best value ticket if you are travelling further afield too, for example from Newbury to Reading, Wokingham or Bracknell. A single ticket for these journeys will cost £3 (thanks to the Government single fare cap until 31 December 2025) and will cap at the day ticket rate for the zone you are in – see the table below for example prices in each area.
| Zone | Daily cap |
| simplyNewbury & Thatcham | £5.50 |
| West Berkshire Connect | £6.00 |
| simplyReading | £4.50 |
| simplyNetwork | £8.50 |
keep track of your spending
Currently, you can track your journeys and how much you have spent through the Reading Buses website. We hope to bring this to the Newbury & District website and app soon.
On the Reading Buses website go to the Contactless Journeys link at the top of the page.
You will need to be logged in to our website in order to view this section (you will need a new login for this if you only use our Newbury & District website) and the first time you use it you will need to add your payment card in order to see the history for it.
Here you will be able to find a list of your recent journeys and payment history as well as being able to download a PDF receipt.
travel more often?
For now, tap on tap off offers the best value for travel during any one single day. If you travel on most days of the week your best bet may still be a weekly, monthly or longer-term ticket bought on our app or smartcard.
Boost tickets will also still need to be purchased from the driver or on the app as present as tap on tap off only offers adult fares.
other ways to pay
Alongside tap on tap off, tickets can still be purchased from the driver with cash or contactless as well as on our app, and smartcards can still be used as normal too.
At present, tap on, tap off is unable to calculate return fares, so for some shorter journeys, buying a return fare from the driver may be cheaper than a day ticket. Tap on, tap off will charge you two single fares instead, only capping when you reach the day ticket price.
If you are an ENCTS (English National Concessionary travel scheme) passholder, you can continue to use your pass as before.
Frequently asked questions
Check out our tap on tap off frequently asked questions page here.