A PIONEERING travel smart card could soon make paying for public transport by cash a thing of the past.

The Government this week announced it is to invest £ 800,000 into an innovative smart card scheme for Cumbria and north Lancashire which will cost up to £2.9 million in total.

Although it will be at least 18 months before it is up and running, the scheme, which aims to create "seamless journeys" for local people as well as visitors, has been hailed as the sustainable solution for transport in the Lake District.

News of the funding was announced at a press conference in Penrith by

Beverley Hughes MP, parliamentary under-secretary at the Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions.

Ms Hughes, who has special responsibility for the Lake District Transport Strategy implementation plan, said the smart card scheme was a "flagship" project for the area and the Government as it was the first of its kind to be introduced in a predominantly rural area.

"We want to learn as much as we can from this project because it has the potential to apply lessons we have learned to other parts of the country," Ms Hughes added.

The smart card, which is expected to look similar to a credit card, would operate on all modes of local transport - bus, rail, ferry, tram and taxis.

Travellers will be able to charge up their account in a number of ways, either by loading it with cash at machines located at transport centres, or transferring money onto it by email or internet banking facilities.

Accounts will be debited when it is used, and transport operators - who have backed the scheme - will be reimbursed at a later stage.

A three-month study is being carried out at the moment looking into the implications of using smart card technology in rural areas.

Once this is completed, work will start on developing the right technology for the scheme and securing the rest of funding needed for the project, the majority of which will come from the private sector.

The bid for DETR money was made by Cumbria County Council in partnership with Lancashire County Council, Blackpool Borough Council and Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council - and the smart card will operate throughout these areas.

l The Government also announced increased funding for rural bus services, with Cumbria set to receive £1,222,506 for 2001/2, as its share of the rural bus subsidy grant.

Sara Turnbull, of CCC, said decisions about how this money would be allocated would be made following an evaluation of all services and re-tendering process.