U.K. orders bus tickets over cell phones

Go North East, the largest bus company in the northeastern region of the U.K., has developed a system that enables passengers to order bus tickets by mobile phone.

The customer receives a digital ticket to their phone minutes after ordering it by text message. The phone screen then displays the ticket information that will be shown to the driver as the passenger boards the bus. The cashless, paperless ticket can be ordered anytime, anywhere by sending a text message to 60060. Customers can even buy tickets while waiting for the bus to arrive. 

To use ‘txt2go’, customers first set up an online account using Go North East’s secure Website. Money is then added to the account using a debit or credit card, and the cost of each txt2go ticket will then automatically be deducted from the account.  

The new tickets are very secure, with each one locked to the handset it was ordered from so it cannot be transferred to another phone.The tickets also improve security on buses by reducing the amount of money carried by the driver.  

The technology implementation, led by Atos Origin, is the first U.K. rollout of the Mobile Payment Solution developed by Atos Worldline, an Atos Origin company, and the ticketing service.