Bus tickets go mobile

ZDNet.co.uk has an article on a leading north of England bus company called Go North East which claims to be the first in the UK to offer customers the ability to buy tickets using their mobile phones:

By texting "txt2go" to the number 60060, a passenger can receive a digital ticket on their mobile phone minutes later. The phone screen displaying the ticket information is then shown to the driver when boarding the bus.

The new system will be "competitive with any ticket system", a spokesperson for Go North East said on Monday. As "an initial offer", an all-day ticket will cost "about £4, instead of around £5, depending on exactly what kind of ticket [is purchased]", a spokesperson for the company added.

The system was developed by Go North East in partnership with IT services company Atos Origin and mobile-ticketing specialist Swiftpass. Tickets received digitally remove the need to carry cash, making it safer for passengers and improving security on buses by reducing the amount of money carried by the driver, Go North East suggested in a statement on Monday.

Read article - 'Bus tickets go mobile'
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