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With more numbers, Packard's got his party in control of policy
With more numbers, Packard's got his party in control of policyTyne and Wear Metro chiefs remain hopeful of making digital tickets available on iPhones, after years of frustration. Transport bosses have been urged to finally deliver a “seamless” experience for Apple users who are currently unable to keep Metro tickets on their phone. A Pop card app allowing customers to buy and store tickets was released for Android phones in 2020, but has remained off limits for iPhones. That means that many passengers have no choice but to obtain a physical Pop card if they want to access its cheaper travel prices, worth up to £1.60 per day, or be left to pay more expensive rates when buying paper tickets from a machine. Conservative and Labour councillors in North Tyneside united on Thursday night in calling for Metro operator Nexus to resolve the problem and deliver the upgrade. A motion from Tory councillor Ian McAlpine complained that the Metro’s payment system “needs further improvement to match the modern experience in places like London and Manchester”. Keep up to date with all the latest breaking news and top stories from the North East with our free newsletter Nexus has previously explained that the technology required to store a Pop card has only been available to use via Google Pay and not in the Apple Wallet. However, it told the Local Democracy Reporting Service on Friday that Apple is now planning to roll out the tech to its UK devices and that the Metro wants to become an “early adopter” – with plans to upgrade Metro station gates in 2025. David Bartlett, head of multimodal smart ticketing at Nexus, said: “We remain committed to rolling out Metro’s mobile smart ticketing offer to Apple iPhones. We want more customers to enjoy Pop Pay As You Go on a wide variety of digital wallets, such as those on Apple devices. “Although available in other countries, products such as Oyster and Pop cannot currently be stored in the Apple Wallet. However, Apple has announced its intention to bring that functionality to the UK. We hope to be an early adopter of this technology when it becomes available. “An upgrade to our ticketing and gating systems will be required in order to achieve this. This includes new smartcard readers for our gates and validators. This stage of the project is in progress, and we expect the new readers to be installed during the first half of 2025.” Metro passengers are also not able to tap in and out at stations using contactless credit or debit cards, whether physical or digital, as users of the London Underground and Manchester’s tram system can. Coun McAlpine’s motion, passed unanimously by the council, warned that people are increasingly reliant on digital wallets and that the lack of iPhone access leaves some passengers paying “over the odds due to the necessity in many cases to purchase physical tickets at machines”. He added: “As well as having to queue every journey to use the machine, they also have to know in advance whether or not they'll be making a return journey. POP cards remove this complexity because the resident always benefit from the lowest, capped, fare.” Join our Breaking News and Top Stories WhatsApp community for all the latest news direct to your phone. To join you need to have WhatsApp on your device. All you need to do is choose which community you want to join, click on the link and press 'join community'. No one will be able to see who is signed up and no one can send messages except the ChronicleLive team. We also treat our community members to special offers, promotions, and adverts from us and our partners. If you don't like our community, you can check out any time you like. To leave our community click on the name at the top of your screen and choose 'exit group'. If you’re curious, you can read our privacy notice . CLICK HERE TO JOIN
Vince Fong: We don’t need Newsom to lecture us. We need him to listen to us.
BHOPAL: Three people lost their lives and eight were critically injured when a 70-foot-high 400KV electricity transmission tower collapsed in Sidhi district of MP on Thursday afternoon. All victims are from West Bengal. According to police, old transmission towers were being replaced and the contract was given to a firm in Bengal. The tower that collapsed was being put up in Aamdad village of Rampur Naikin panchayat, 600km from Bhopal. Around 12.30pm, the tower suddenly crashed to the ground. Other workers and locals rushed to extricate the victims from the twisted jumble of metal. Police took all the victims to hospital. While two of them died on the way to Sanjay Gandhi Medical College in Rewa, 50km from the accident site, a third was declared dead on arrival. tnn Stay updated with the latest news on Times of India . Don't miss daily games like Crossword , Sudoku , Location Guesser and Mini Crossword .
AP News Summary at 4:09 p.m. EST
NoneMiami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa has been downgraded from questionable to doubtful for Sunday's road game against the Cleveland Browns because of a hip injury. Tagovailoa, 26, has been limited at practice all week but is still hoping to play, according to media reports on Saturday. The Dolphins (7-8) are fighting to stay in playoff contention and need a win against the Browns (3-12) to stay in the mix. If Tagovailoa doesn't play, Tyler Huntley would get his fourth start of the season. The Dolphins also elevated quarterback Skylar Thompson from the practice squad to the active roster on Saturday. Tagovailoa injured his hip against the Houston Texans on Dec. 15 and absorbed another hit against the San Francisco 49ers last Sunday. He has already missed four games this season because of a concussion while starting the other 11. He is 291 of 399 (league-best 72.9 percent) for 2,867 yards, 19 touchdowns and seven interceptions. Miami selected him with the fifth overall pick of the 2020 NFL Draft out of Alabama. He has completed 68.1 percent of his passes in his career for 15,506 yards and 100 TDs along with 44 interceptions in 64 games (62 starts). Huntley, 26, has started three games this season for the Dolphins while Tagovailoa was out before suffering a shoulder injury. Huntley was 39 of 66 (59.1 percent) for 377 yards, one TD and one pick. He also ran 16 times for 67 yards and a score. He played in 20 games (nine starts) for the Baltimore Ravens from 2020-23, passing for 1,957 yards, eight TDs and seven interceptions. He also rushed 115 times for 509 yards and three TDs. --Field Level Media
Throughout Kliff Kingsbury's tenure as head coach of the Arizona Cardinals , the team was known for its late-season slumps. The Cardinals, who have lost back-to-back-to-back games after previously being 6-4, seem to still have that cloud over their heads. One analyst believes QB Kyler Murray deserves criticism for it. "Kyler love-bombed me for the first 10 weeks of the season." @Realrclark25 thinks it's difficult "to buy into the Arizona Cardinals" because of Kyler Murray's second half struggles 🤫 pic.twitter.com/5c3ExxlQu3 ESPN's Ryan Clark, who played 13 seasons in the NFL largely with the Pittsburgh Steelers , claims that Murray "love-bombed" him with false promise at the start of the year. He went on to mention that it's not the first time Murray's production has fallen off midseason, after doing the same in 2020. ESPN then showed a graphic comparing Murray's stats while under pressure from Weeks 1-10 to his stats from the past three games, and they're not pretty. His completion percentage drops from 61 to 39 and his TD-INT ratio falls from 4-0 to 1-3. In total , Murray has thrown five picks in his past three games with only three touchdowns. His average Passer Rating is 76.8, and he hasn't completed more than 70 percent of his passes in any of the three contests. In the past, it was Kingsbury who took the blame for Murray's struggles down the stretch. It's worth noting Kingsbury, who is now the Washington Commanders ' offensive coordinator, faced that same criticism again during a three-game Commanders skid before Washington beat the Tennessee Titans prior to its bye week. Now, though, Murray must deal with the concerning narrative himself. He has played the Cardinals out of a playoff spot in recent weeks, and he must be better if Arizona has any chance to climb back into the fight for the NFC West title.