NFC TIMES Exclusive Insight – A mid-tier U.S. transit agency in Pennsylvania is the latest to introduce mobile ticketing with an option for riders to use smart cards to pay for fares, using a software-as-a-service ticketing platform from a start-up.
The South Central Transit Authority, or SCTA, which had an annual pre-pandemic ridership of more than 5 million with a fleet of about 100 buses in the two counties it serves west of Philadelphia, is launching the service this month with the “Go Mobile” app.
The app enables customers to open an account and buy tickets and passes with preloaded bank cards. They display the fare products as a QR code on their smartphone screens, which they then have scanned by validators on board buses. Customers have the option of purchasing a closed-loop contactless smart card and topping them up in the app or, if they don’t have a smartphone or don’t want to download the app, can load it at transit agency offices. There is still a paper option with a printed QR code, as well.