Stagecoach releases new ticketing range to its app

Stagecoach, Britain’s biggest bus operator, has rolled out mobile tickets via its app for its customers across England, Scotland and Wales.

Stagecoach passengers can now instantly buy and download ‘Dayrider’ and ‘Weekly’ megarider tickets straight to their smartphone from the company’s Stagecoach Bus app to paid via PayPal or debit/credit card. This means that customers using mobile ticketing have a new, secure way of paying which means they no longer need paper tickets and don’t have to worry about finding cash for their journey.

The Stagecoach Bus app

The app (which was launched last year) is also able to provide a journey planning tool (which uses interactive maps and the smartphone’s GPS system to help customers identify their nearest bus stop and the most suitable bus service for their journey requirements) as well as next-stop information and live bus tracking. It can also relay information about journey length and available fare options.

“The introduction of mobile tickets across the UK demonstrates further our commitment to giving our customers even more payment options to suit their individual needs,” said Mark Threapleton, Stagecoach UK Bus Managing Director for England and Wales. “Bus travel is changing rapidly and we are working hard to improve the areas of bus service delivery that we can control. But we desperately need local authorities to play their part and take urgent action on traffic congestion, because faster and more reliable bus journeys, fewer cars, and less pollution is better for everyone in our communities.”

Smart ticketing

Smart ticketing is available at all Stagecoach regional companies – the company has over two million StagecoachSmart cards in circulation and processes more than 330 million smart transactions every year, and along with the UK’s other major operators, Stagecoach has helped deliver multi-operator smart ticketing in all of England’s city regions.

Work is also underway on a similar scheme in Scotland, with smart, multi-operator ticketing launched in Aberdeen, Aberdeenshire and Dundee.

Stagecoach has also launched contactless payments in Oxfordshire, Manchester and the north east of England, with the technology aimed to be available at all Stagecoach bus companies by 2018.

The company has also joined with the UK’s major bus operators to work on an ambitious scheme that could see contactless travel introduced on every one of the UK’s 32,000-plus buses outside London by 2022.