School bus ticketing platform ShuttleID has launched Brickets, which is a new style of digital bus ticket that works on virtually any type of ‘brick’ mobile phone.
The supplier says that Brickets has been developed to support the emerging trend of ‘brick’ phone adoption by parents of schoolchildren and in recognition of increasing calls to ban smartphones inside school classrooms and beyond.
ShuttleID adds that Brickets will assist home-to-school transport operators in supporting any ban, which was in May was recommended for government consideration by the Education Select Committee.
The technology is driven by a QR code that displays on the ‘brick’ phone and is scanned by the driver’s handheld device. ShuttleID says that it identified and developed up to six ways to transfer the digital ticket to a ‘brick’ phone within hardware constraints.
The work means that passengers can use bus tickets that are printed or displayed either on a ‘brick’ phone or a smartphone.
Adds Director Chris Bell: “This topic has gained momentum in the past year, and as parents with young children ourselves, the impact of social media on smartphones is something we are mindful of.
“Over the years, transport has become deeply embedded into smartphone usage. Brickets aims to break that dependency and help transport operators to normalise ‘brick’ phone usage among school children. The change means that operators can likewise inclusively support any type of bus ticket, whether it is printed, on a smartphone, or on a ‘brick’ phone.”
A ‘parent pact’, signed by parents across 8,100 schools, aims to delay smartphone adoption among schoolchildren until year nine. Schools have advocated and provisioned ‘brick’ phones without access to apps or the internet for younger students.
ShuttleID will demonstrate Brickets and its wider ticketing platform at Euro Bus Expo, which is to be held on 12-14 November at the NEC Birmingham.
