Masabi announced a new era in fare payments with the launch of the RTS Go contactless fare payment solution in Rochester, N.Y., for the Regional Transit Service (RTS). The touchless technology, powered by Masabi’s Justride platform, means riders will no longer need to buy a ticket and will simply be able to use their RTS Go smart card or RTS Go mobile pass in the Transit app to tap, ride, and then be charged the best possible price for their journey.

The rollout of RTS Go marks a turning point in the fare collection industry. Transit agencies no longer need to purchase their own design-and-build bespoke ticketing systems nor update regularly with new features and functionality unless significant amounts of money are invested. Instead, the solution uses a Fare Payments-as-a-Service approach, combined with a Mobility-as-a-Service app experience.

Fare Payments-as-a-Service delivers agencies the latest fare payment innovations quickly, using a cloud-native multi-tenant platform like Masabi’s Justride, which is constantly updating and adding new features. This greatly improves the journey experience for passengers by delivering constant innovation, helping agencies keep up with the pace of technology change. It also reduces the total cost of fare collection as the costs are shared between all users of the platform through reduced build, update, and maintenance costs.

Thanks to Masabi’s integration with Transit app, RTS customers are now able to add stored value to their accounts and seamlessly tap around the transit network. The combination provides RTS customers with an integrated mobility experience including trip planning, real-time information, and connections to third-party mobility services, so they can plan their complete first/last mile journeys and simply tap and ride when they’re ready to travel, all from within the same application, powered by Masabi’s Justride SDK.

Customers using RTS Go will pay $1 per ride, but thanks to “fare capping,” never more than $3 a day or $56 a month — which corresponds to the price of a daily and monthly pass. The account-based back office fare engine knows when a rider has reached these limits and stops charging them for the rest of that day or month, rewarding them the more they use RTS services. This demonstrates a commitment by RTS to the democratization of public transit, recognizing its fundamental role in enabling economic and social growth. Ensuring the availability of fully contactless journeys for riders also shows RTS’ commitment to a transport-led recovery following the Covid-19 pandemic, keeping transit working safely for the people of Rochester.

Customers who don’t have a smartphone are able to purchase an RTS Go reloadable smart card online at myRTS.com or at one of the new ticket vending machines. RTS Go cards can be topped up using Transit app, online using the new web portal, or from a ticket vending machine.

When boarding the bus, passengers tap their mobile pass or smart card on the new Justride Validators. These revolutionary and affordable validation devices bring the benefits of Account-Based Ticketing to agencies of all sizes and enable all major ticketing formats including Barcode, NFC, and Contactless EMV (for contactless bank cards).