National Express West Midlands passengers can now purchase bus tickets on the Uber app

The new consumer product is powered by Masabi

 

London, UK – Tuesday, 9th of April, 2024 –National Express West Midlands (NXWM) today announced a first-of-its-kind partnership with the launch of its bus tickets within the Uber app, through an integration with Masabi’s Justride platform.

Uber has added NXWM mobile bus tickets to its app, providing both NXWM and Uber customers with greater flexibility and choice when purchasing tickets to travel by bus throughout the West Midlands. This new feature, integrating NXWM buses alongside traditional Uber rides, provides customers with access to a range of affordable and convenient transport ticketing options in a familiar app experience.

How it works:

It’s very simple, open the Uber app and look for the red bus icon, click on it and select your journey type. Then just select the number of tickets you want, make payment and Go! National Express West Midlands bus tickets start from £2 for a single journey.

The functionality has been made possible using Masabi’s Justride Software Development Kit (SDK). The SDK creates a seamless passenger experience combining secure ticketing functionality within existing apps. NXWM’s single, day and weekly bus tickets are now available to purchase via the Uber app, which customers then validate as they board the bus and scan their ticket using NXWM’s onboard validators.

John Boughton, Commercial Director for National Express UK and Ireland, said:“This first-of-its-kind collaboration provides new and existing customers greater flexibility and choice by offering sustainable travel options, alongside great value fares. In 2022 we partnered with Uber to offer access to National Express coach bookings across the UK through the user-friendly Uber app. We are really pleased to be enhancing this partnership further by integrating National Express West Midlands tickets and making it easier to move around the West Midlands by bus.”

Andrew Brem, General Manager of Uber UK, said: “We’re delighted to launch this new consumer product as it further extends Uber’s goal of helping riders go anywhere, be it by train, car, bike, coach, boat and now bus. The partnership with National Express West Midlands will help turn Uber into a one-stop-shop for our users across the region creating seamless multi-modal journeys in one simple in-app experience.”

Brian Zanghi, CEO of Masabi, said: “Uber’s use of Masabi’s SDK allows agencies to offer passengers enhanced choices and seamlessly connects public and private modes. By integrating ticketing options into the Uber app service accessibility and flexibility are increased, ensuring an unparalleled passenger experience. Building upon the success of the NXWM mTicket app, we are excited to further develop our longstanding partnerships with NXWM and Uber, and to help deliver a better passenger experience for travellers across the region and beyond.”

Today’s announcement highlights the evolving partnership between National Express West Midlands (NXWM) and Masabi which began in 2016 with the mTicket app launch. This collaboration led to a student-focused smart ticketing scheme in 2018, cash digitisation in 2021 for ticket purchases at retail locations, and the UK’s largest on-bus QR code mobile ticket scanning system in 2023 using Masabi’s Justride platform. In 2023, Justride facilitated 43 million bus trips, improving efficiency and reducing driver effort by 25%. With access to tickets through Uber in addition to the NXWM mTicket app, bus passengers across the West Midlands now have the flexibility to choose between two convenient apps for purchasing their transport tickets.

Interested in learning more?  Get in touch with our team today  for insights and guidance on launching your tickets in the Uber app, just as NXWM has successfully done.