Buying bus tickets in York made easy by bus operators

York is following Rochester (New York) and Moscow in rolling out a unified travel app for its residents.

Three of York’s independent bus operators have united under one single ticketing app in a bid to make journey planning easier for passengers in the English city. The move demonstrates that unified ticketing and journey planning services are not just for capital cities and massive authorities, but that smaller operators can benefit from this kind of approach.

Reliance Motor Services, York Pullman and Connexionsbuses are all using myTrip – the UK’s first multi-operator bus ticketing app. The app lets users make cashless and contact-free ticket purchases and track buses in real-time with live location updates.

With three independent bus operators serving the region, plus larger operators running routes through and around the city, public transport is crucial to keeping York moving. The City of York has 200,000 permanent residents and is a popular tourist destination thanks to its historical landmarks and cultural events.

Reliance Motor Services operate 18 buses across a wide network around North Yorkshire and the City of York and described the news as ‘a real bonus for passenger mobility in York’. York Pullman carries over 1,000,000 passengers annually and Connexionsbuses operate 35 buses on a mixed network of Schools and Commercial Services in North and West Yorkshire.

myTrip is, according to its developers, the first multi-operator app to be designed, built and priced for smaller operators. It allows for cashless and contact-free transactions and helps operators and users manage social distancing requirements. Users can also see detailed information about each vehicle (including accessibility features) and can gift tickets via the app.

“The response to the app has been fantastic” said Gary Newby, Managing Director, Reliance Motor Services. “The option to gift tickets has been a game-changer for parents wanting to manage their children’s tickets for school or college and the ability to track the bus to the stop means parent and child have more confidence in the service full stop”.

Craig Temple, Managing Director of Connexionsbuses said: “’We have been looking for a secure and reliable mobile ticketing app for some time, and myTrip is perfect for us. Our partner schools and parents particularly appreciate the live tracking so they can see where buses are in real-time.”

Smaller towns and cities in the UK, US and Europe often do not have this kind of technology available to them, despite the reliance on public transport (particularly buses) being just as high as in larger urban areas. Rochester, located in York’s namesake in the US, recently launched a contactless fare system within its transport app. Moscow has implemented its Troika Card payment system to smaller towns around the Russian capital’s periphery too. This kind of technology looks set only to roll out further and further.