Tickets are now supported through UrbanThings’ UK Bus Checker app, which entered its 10th version (Bus Checker X) this week.
Until now, the app has provided journey planning and real-time information for around one million active UK users. The addition of the ticketing function to Bus Checker X represents a new retail avenue for operators in partnership with UrbanThings. Early sign up for the function began earlier this year.
The first operators to sign up to the ticketing feature are Reading Buses, Midland Classic and Hattons Travel. Other operators are expected to be onboarded in the coming months.
Bus Checker will also complete its integration of the UK Bus Open Data Service (BODS) in the coming months, making “it even faster and simpler for operators to be included in the app” according to the tech supplier.
“This is the biggest change we’ve ever made to Bus Checker,” says CEO at UrbanThings Carl Partridge. “Our mission is to make travel simple and we’re excited to offer passengers an app where they can plan their journey, see real-time information and buy their tickets, all in one place. We’re delighted to offer operators an additional retail channel – with one million active users in the UK, operators can sell their tickets in an app that their passengers are already using.
“At a time when public transport patronage is down, it’s vital that we encourage passengers back on board. This starts with making their journey as quick and simple as possible. The Bus Checker app has been doing this for 10 years, providing live bus times and route information at the tap of a finger, and the new introduction of UK-wide mobile tickets will take this to the next level. Passengers can plan, book and pay for their journey in one place, which will allow them to make informed decisions about how to travel safely.”
UrbanThings software now powers more than 130 million passenger journeys across the world every year.
