In-app mobile ticketing comes to Okayama buses

Visitors and locals in Okayama Prefecture in Japan can now purchase Shimotsui Loop Bus Tokohai one-day bus tickets from within the Japan Transit Planner and Norikae Annai apps.

The one-day tickets are available for bus travel between Kojima, Shimotsui, and Washuzan – popular routes operated by Shimotsui Dentetsu.

In-app mobile ticketing for Okayama is the result of a partnership between ticketing technology firm Masabi and Jorudan, Japan’s leading trip-planning service, which began in 2019.

Since the two became partners, they have made 13 deployments across Japan. With Masabi’s mobile ticketing SDK integrated into Jorudan’s trip planner, any operator that signs up to using the service can then make tickets available in Jorudan’s Japan Transit Planner and Norikae Annai applications.

Mobile ticketing programmes have come to the fore in 2020, with transport operators around the world looking to make services contactless for users in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. For many, while mobile ticketing was already part of the agenda, the pandemic forced implementation of the technology to the top of the list so that incoming revenue from fares didn’t dry up altogether.

“Since the onset of COVID-19, the progress we have been making in our partnership with Jorudan has become even more critical, and we have been very happy with the results of our alliance in the Japanese market so far,” said Brian Zanghi, CEO of Masabi. “Deployments like this link communities safely and conveniently and lay the foundations for wider national projects to follow. We are delighted to be launching this service to help locals and visitors alike travel around Okayama.”

Also commenting, Toshikazu Sato, CEO of Jorudan, said: “Our work with Masabi is concentrated on creating an easy, convenient and safe travel environment, whether you use these services every day or are just visiting Japan. We are enabling people not only to plan their journeys, but also to buy their transport ticket and safely navigate the local area without the need to interact with anything but their smartphone device. We are delighted with the progress our partnership with Masabi has made so far and are excited to deliver this technology to more areas across Japan.”