New contactless system speeds up ticketing across West Midlands bus network
Bus travellers across the region will have more digital access to pay for travel after a new mobile ticketing system was rolled out.
National Express West Midlands has been working with Masabi and INIT to introduce the UK’s largest on-bus QR code scanning system to read and validate mobile tickets (mTickets).
The new technology provides a quicker, safer and simpler way to travel around the region by speeding up bus boarding times and reducing wait times by providing an efficient contactless experience.
It is now live across National Express West Midlands’ fleet of 1,600 buses throughout the Black Country, Birmingham Solihull and Coventry, with 21 million scans having taken place since it was rolled out towards the end of 2022.
Daljit Kalirai, sales and partnerships director at National Express West Midlands, said: “Around 25 per cent of our customer journeys are made using mTickets and we've seen over 21 million scans using the new QR code scanning system.
"It couldn’t be easier - customers simply activate their mTicket in our app, get onboard and scan the QR code using our onboard card reader.
“We’re committed to making bus travel affordable for all, which is why we recently extended our £2 adult single ticket offer until the end of June. Our day saver also still costs £4 - the same as it did in 2014 - regardless of how many buses our customers catch.
“The new mTicket QR scanning technology has been a really exciting project for us. Working collaboratively with our partners Masabi and INIT, we’ve been able to make several improvements to our scanners and mobile app, so our customers get the best experience possible.
“It will also help us crack down on fraud so we can continue maintaining our low fares while making it even quicker and easier for our new and existing customers to travel by bus.”
Customers can purchase and store mTickets in seconds within the National Express West Midlands mTicket app with its wallet feature, with most ticket types available, including singles, day savers, group tickets and one and four-week tickets.
Brian Zanghi, CEO of Masabi, said: “The success of this initiative with National Express West Midlands is the result of the close partnership we have developed over recent years, helping to roll out upgrades and improvements that continue to make everyday life easier for bus customers.
“The use of our barcode key schema to accelerate mobile ticketing adoption illustrates our ethos of the power of partnerships and open ecosystems to benefit local communities and the wider transport industry.”
Jens Mullak, managing director of INIT Ltd, said: “INIT has enjoyed a strong partnership with National Express West Midlands for many years and we recognise that passengers now demand greater choice when it comes to paying for their travel.
“Within six weeks our engineers retrofitted the ticket validators across National Express West Midlands’ entire fleet with new barcode scanners.
"This new payment method speeds up boarding times because passengers activate their ticket before they board and then simply scan the stored QR code on our validators as they enter the bus.
“National Express also benefits because they have visibility of their passengers’ movements when they scan their barcodes.”
For more information on National Express West Midlands’ mTickets, go to nxbus.co.uk/west-midlands/help-information/mticket-qr-code-scanning-now-live
