NFC TIMES Exclusive – A consortium of 13 small and mid-tier transit agencies in Ohio and Northern Kentucky plans to enable customers to buy public transit tickets directly in the Uber app as early as this summer, following two other U.S. transit agencies, in Denver and Las Vegas, which have already integrated with Uber.
The mobile-ticketing service in the Uber app will be one of several ticketing and payments options for bus riders in such Ohio cities as Cincinnati and Akron and smaller cities and towns in the state and surrounding area. Other options include the consortium’s own mobile-ticketing app, EZfare, and mobile ticketing through the trip-planning Transit app. With the Covid-19 pandemic having caused public transit ridership to plummet throughout the U.S. and raising worries that some customers will not return to ride buses, subways and commuter trains as the lockdowns end, transit agencies are looking to promote use of more touch-free options like mobile ticketing.
Of course, paper tickets and cash are still used most often by customers of the agencies, although many transit officials have waived fares during the pandemic to reduce contact between bus drivers or other transit employees and customers and to allow all parties to avoid handling cash.
