First Bus encourages passengers to switch to mTickets promising 75% faster boarding times

Operator First Bus is raising awareness of new technologies improving its customer service, including a 75 percent improvement in boarding times if customers switch from cash to mTickets.

First Bus has launched a major marketing campaign highlighting technologies which are helping to transform its customer service. Improvements include its mTicket and bus tracker apps, free on board wi-fi and an on-line journey planner.

The company is promising customers speedier bus journeys, despite the high profile congestion issues across the UK, if passengers switch from paying fares by cash to mTickets, which enables customers to use their mobile phones as bus tickets.

The company, which carries some 1.6m passengers a day, made the promise after running a demonstration to compare the time it takes to board 50 people onto a bus with customers paying by cash versus customers using mTickets.  The results were revealing – boarding 50 cash customers took 10.5 minutes, while 50 customers using their smartphones took 2.5 minutes – a massive eight-minute reduction, some 75 percent.

To date, around 1 million First Bus passenger journeys a week are paid for via mTickets.

Managing Director of First Bus, Giles Fearnley, said: “Our demonstration has proved that converting customers from cash to mTickets or other forms of smart ticketing has a huge impact on boarding times and will help us in the battle to speed up the bus, despite the very stark congestion issues that we face.  Boarding 50 customers in just 2.5 minutes using mTickets, eight minutes quicker than cash, is a huge step forward and gives us real opportunity to speed up bus journeys and maintain a competitive advantage over the car.”

Giles continued: “We are determined to transform the experience for all our customers and I am delighted that technology is now able to deliver so many benefits for our passengers. The combination of journey planning, free wi-fi, real time information and mTickets really does make the bus an increasingly attractive option for so many journey needs.”