Wiltshire is one step closer to having a smart card for the county which will be used to pay for public transport, parking library charges and leisure activities.
At a council meeting on 29th July councillors backed a Lib Dem motion to begin developing a smartcard scheme for the county. The development of the smartcard, proposed by Wiltshire Lib Dems’ spokesperson for transport and highways, cllr Magnus Macdonald, will soon begin with the hope it will pay for parking, public transport and a number of other services across the county.
Cllr Magnus Macdonald has hailed this as a step into the 21st Century of transport and a great success for the people of Wiltshire. He said, “Wiltshire is really set to benefit from this. This Lib Dem success will help deliver fairer fares in our council car parks and giving new opportunities for us in public transport.
“It rights the wrong of our council taking hundreds of thousands of pounds worth of change out of the pockets of Wiltshire residents as it will give people the opportunity to pay for the amount they use when they use it.”
Cllr Jon Hubbard, leader of Wiltshire’s Lib Dems said, “Finally the Conservative administration have got that our county needs joined up thinking. Lib Dems have been calling for this approach for years and ‘one card for Wiltshire’ is the first step towards this.
“I hope they will continue to follow our lead and think of what can benefit Wiltshire residents in the long term and not move from short term fix to short term fix. I am proud of the work done by Lib Dems in Wiltshire to deliver for our county and that the council can see a good idea when it is presented to it. We are a party of grown-up politics and working all year round to build a stronger economy and a fairer society right here in Wiltshire.
“I’m just sorry to see that Conservative tactics denied Council the right to demonstrate its support for our motion and debate it.”
