Transconnect

transconnect, formerly transX, is the marketing body and umbrella brand for public train, tram, bus, elevated rail and ferry transport operators in the Bruntonese regions including Azuka, Wellington, Emden and Bayswater.

History
transconnect first began operations in 1996 in the city of Harlden as transX. In 1998 they took over another city and that was Uta. The following year, transX changed its name to transconnect in 2001 when they merged with Western Connection which was the previous umbrella brand for public transport in the cities of Broadwaters and Pano. In just 5 years since they began operating in Harlden they had a total of 4 cities being operated by the company. In 2003 they took over 2 other cities which were Gateston and Misai.

Smartcard ticketing had become popular around the world, New Brunton was falling behind in the new technology. transconnect decided to explore the opportunities and in 2004 they proposed a contactless smartcard that was to be completed by 2007. The deadline arrived but the system wasn't ready yet. There were problems with the microchips and the machines did not recognize it, the problem was later resolved. On 1 June, 2008 the system was officially launched in all the areas except Misai, since then there has been no major problems with the system.

New Darlington Project
The New Darlington Project was announced in 2012, the project is a major task as transconnect plans to take over the largest railway network in New Brunton and the first subway network to take over. It is expected that by 2020 New Darlington's public transport will be operated by transconnect.

XKEY
XKEY is a contactless smartcard ticketing system used in the transconnect areas except Misai. The system was completed in 2008 and can be used in all transport methods. In 2015, the XKEY will be rolled out in Misai and paper ticketing will no longer be used except buses. There are a total of 3 types of XKEY's including Adult, Child and Senior. All of the XKEY front of the card are the same except the back of it, they also have the type written on the back of the card to indicate them easily.

Design
A competition was made to design the XKEY. The award given to the winner was $500,000 and a trip to the United States of America, the winner was Katie Gorman aged 16 from Harlden. transconnect also reported that almost 1,000 people entered the competition and that made it very difficult to decide.



transcard
transcard is the brand name of an integrated ticketing system used by transconnect. transcard is a credit card sized ticket made out of cardboard and uses a magnetic strip to store fare data. It is used in all transconnect areas except Misai, there were plans to roll it out in Misai but it was cancelled as XKEY would be rolled out in 2015.

Paper ticketing
Paper ticketing is still used for all bus networks and all other public transport networks in Misai. It is expected that by 2025 the paper ticketing system will be removed and only the XKEY and transcard will be used.

Fares
The fares are variable and depends on which area and station the ticket is bought from. XKEY card fares are different and they calculate the cheapest fare available. XKEY also provides unlimited fares.