NFC TIMES Exclusive Insight – Academy Bus, a large private commuter and charter bus company serving the U.S. East Coast, has launched its first mobile-ticketing service with the SilverPass app, enabling commuters to purchase digital tickets with credit cards or employer benefit cards.
Academy Bus, which says it has a total of 1,000 coaches, launched the service this week, using a white-label app from trip-planning platform provider Moovit and using a software-as-a-service mobile-ticketing and payments platform from UK-based Masabi.
Users can activate the tickets on their smartphone screens and Moovit and Masabi say a new “Inspect App,” will enable bus drivers to validate the tickets in a “contactless and COVID-safe way.” The digital tickets include a QR code, and Academy Bus said drivers will be able to validate the tickets either by electronically scanning the tickets or visually inspecting them. A Masabi spokesman told NFC Times that the inspect smartphone app is in use by more than 20 transport autorities and operators globally, including the Metropolitan Transportation Authority in New York and Lurraldebus in Spain.