Commuters to New York City who hate the wait to buy paper train tickets–whether from a man or a machine–will soon have the option to use their mobile phones instead.
The Metropolitan Transit Authority Board (MTA) has approved a contract with a provider of mobile ticketing technology, London-based tech venture Masabi (a subsidiary of Blue Technologies Ltd).
Masabi will help the MTA roll out mobile ticketing for riders of trains on the Metro-North Railroad and Long Island Rail Road (LIRR) but not the NYC subway– not yet anyway.
Executives with the MTA could not be reached for comment immediately. Masabi CEO Ben Whitaker explained that the MTA has not yet made an official determination on timing for the launch of its mobile ticketing apps.
Because Metro North and LIRR operations, staff and ridership are so large, he said, “planning, training and testing” must take time–meaning the app won’t be available for months, most likely.
Masabi’s mobile ticketing platform (called JustRide) lets users buy individual tickets, from a one-way ride to a monthly pass, in a matter of seconds via their phones, and also provides them with information about train arrivals, route maps, timetables and other transit-related issues.
On the transit side of the business, train inspectors will be able to verify riders’ mobile tickets by scanning them with another mobile device, like an iPhone. And the MTA, as a corporation, can use JustRide to receive real-time data about ticket sales and system use by riders, among other things.
Metro-North Railroad and the LIRR received just 11 proposals from mobile ticketing suppliers including Masabi, according to a public statement by the MTA.
Masabi has raised $8.8 million from angel and venture investors including Fontinalis Partners, m8 Capital and MMC Ventures.
The company already provides mobile ticketing for the Thames Clippers “river bus” service in London, the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authorityin Boston, and the San Diego Metropolitan Train System, among others.
Another venture-backed company, called SilverRail Technologies, also offers mobile reservations and ticketing to railways around the world. Backed by Mithril Capital Management, Canaan Partners and Sutter Hill Ventures, SilverRail aims to make train travel at least as easy to book as air travel.
Large tech integrators, including International Business Machines and Xerox, also provide some mobile payment and ticketing technology to transit companies as well.
Masabi began creating mobile banking, games and other apps in 2002, still early days for mobile. It began making apps for transit in 2006. The company has worked with 18 large transit agencies, some larger than the MTA, Whitaker said.
According to the American Public Transportation Association, riders make 2.9 billion trips and pay $13 billion in fares each year in the U.S. alone. Metro North and the LIRR account for about $1 billion in fares collected annually.
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