Zagreb is moving closer to a tap-and-go future on its trams and buses. The city has launched a procurement process for new ticketing equipment for ZET, the local public transport operator, that would let passengers simply tap a contactless bank card on a validator instead of buying a paper ticket or a local transport card in advance.
The planned framework agreement is valued at around €4 million excluding VAT, and covers roughly 1,900 ticket validators plus 650 control units to be installed across ZET's fleet. It's a supply-and-installation deal, and because it's structured as a framework agreement the final amount of kit bought could shift up or down from those initial figures.
For anyone who has stood at a Zagreb tram stop wondering how to buy a ticket, this is a welcome change. At the moment you need to find a kiosk, use a machine or already hold a ZET card. Under the proposed system, a contactless bank card — or likely a compatible phone or smartwatch — would do the job directly at the validator on board, the same model London, Paris and many other European cities already use. That takes a lot of friction out of arriving in a new city and hopping straight on a tram.
The ticketing upgrade is the latest piece of a broader modernisation push in the Croatian capital. Zagreb has been adding new trams and new or refurbished buses over the past several years, alongside investments such as expanding the tram network. The new validators would bring the ticketing side of things in line with that newer rolling stock.
Don't expect to tap in tomorrow. The procurement process still has to be completed and an implementation timetable confirmed, so for now the traditional ticket options remain the way to go. But once live, the change would be one of the more noticeable improvements for both residents and visitors using the city's trams and buses.
It matters for travellers because Zagreb is a city most people explore largely on foot and by tram — the old town, the Upper Town funicular, the museums and markets are all stitched together by ZET routes. Anything that makes boarding simpler, especially for international visitors without a local card or Croatian coins, makes the whole trip smoother.
