Mobile ticketing to be launched on Airport Express buses in Madrid

Empresa Municipal de Transportes de Madrid (EMT Madrid) has announced its launch of a mobile ticketing pilot project on the Airport Express bus, connecting central Madrid with Barajas International Airport.

The system will allow passengers to download an EMT-branded app and purchase tickets which are displayed on screen as a dynamic and encrypted barcode. These tickets are then scanned using readers which will be deployed on the buses. The app will be available both in English and Spanish.

“Mobile ticketing makes buying tickets quick and easy for passengers and saves the cost and hassle of having to handle cash onboard our buses,” said Enrique Diego, CTO of EMT Madrid. “In addition, ticket digitisation in the airport line will allow us to open new sales channels so that we can attract additional riders to use our service. This project and its technological developments are very relevant to EMT and our users.”

The pilot will help EMT Madrid reduce cash handling onboard buses as well enabling a shift towards a digitised mobility experience. The system will use the Justride platform from Masabi, together with Mastercard’s payment technology and Santander, who will be the acquiring bank for the deployment.

“Mastercard is working with the world’s leading cities and industry partners to remove the friction that slows down how people move around them,” said Paloma Real, Spain Country Manager at MasterCard. “The introduction of mobile ticketing in Madrid will make riding the bus as simple as possible for residents and visitors and we are excited to be working with Masabi and Santander to make this a reality.”

The system is set to go live during the first quarter of 2019 and will run for an initial 12-month period before being evaluated.

“This launch in Madrid marks yet another capital city with a Masabi deployment,” said Brian Zanghi, CEO of Masabi. “Around the world we are seeing more and more major cities adopting mobile ticketing and SaaS-based fare collection and reaping the benefits of customer satisfaction, cost savings and continual innovation.”