Dallas Area Rapid Transit was named the American Public Transportation Association’s (APTA) 2019 Innovation Award winner.

The Innovation Award is given to a public transit agency demonstrating innovative concepts in the provision of public transportation services. Entries this year had to show how their transit system demonstrated excellence within the three-year period of 2016 to 2018.

The GoPass app, DART’s winning entry, was the first public transit ticket-purchasing app in the nation that involved multiple agencies and different types of transportation by combining efforts between DART in Dallas County, The Fort Worth Transportation Authority (now Trinity Metro) in Tarrant County, and the DCTA in Denton County.

Customers simply download the free app, set up an account using a debit or credit card, and then start buying tickets. The GoPass app helps people plan trips by seeing routes mapped out with listed arrival and departure times. It even shows upcoming events.

Since its initial launch in September 2013, the GoPass app has seen several improvements. In 2016, the corporate annual and college semester passes were added. One year later ride-sharing services were integrated into the app, like DART’s New GoLink microtransit service that provides customers an on-demand first mile/last mile solution.

Last year, the agency released GoPass 2.0, which continued to revolutionize how riders transact with DART. New features and benefits added included fare capping, cash-to-mobile payment option, Apple Pay, and GoPass Wallet.

The much-anticipated GoPass 3.0 was released earlier this year. The new version securely positions the app as a mobility manager platform that could be leveraged nationally, providing Mobility as a Service without regard to mode or provider.