Denver RTD, Transit and Masabi launch in-app ticketing

Starting Sept. 9, the more than 35,000 people who use Transit every month across the Denver metro area will be able to purchase and activate Regional Transportation District (RTD) tickets within the company’s mobile app. This launch has been made possible through an integration with Masabi’s Justride mobile ticketing SDK (software development kit) and places the region’s riders among the first in the world to plan and pay for trips involving multiple modes of transportation on a single platform. 

To celebrate, Transit offered the first 1,000 RTD users who purchases a Local or Regional 3-Hour Pass in the app during the morning rush on Tuesday, Sept. 10 – from 6-10 a.m. – a free ticket in their wallet by 3 p.m., in time for the evening trip home that day.

To purchase a ticket with Transit, riders can tap the bar with RTD’s logo at the bottom of their screen inside the app. Transit guides users through a step-by-step process to choose a fare type, enter payment information and activate their ticket, which can then be shown to a bus operator or fare inspector for validation. Riders can also store tickets in a wallet with their Transit account and use them when they’re ready to ride RTD services.

“RTD’s riders are already using Transit every day to plan their trips and track our buses and trains,” said RTD CEO and General Manager Dave Genova. “Offering them the ability to buy our tickets through Transit provides additional convenience, making it more intuitive for people to complete their trips as easily as possible.”

The launch of Transit marks the third application – all of which are supported by Masabi – through which RTD riders can conveniently purchase tickets using their smartphones, making it even more convenient to discover and board RTD services. The transit agency’s popular Mobile Tickets app launched in the fall of 2017, and RTD began selling transit tickets within the Uber app in May 2019. RTD remains the only transit agency in the world offering riders the ability to plan trips in real-time and pay for them through Uber.

In the last month, Transit has been downloaded 10,000 times and opened 1.6 million times in Denver, with 15 percent of its users being from outside the region. Transit provides a single platform for users to access real-time, unbiased trip planning information spanning multiple public and private operators. Travelers in Denver can plan multimodal trips that combine transit, bikeshare and scooters, as well as pay for multimodal trips using Uber and Lyft within the app. With the debut of integrated ticketing , riders can pay for RTD where they’re already planning trips and tracking rides.

RTD, along with other systems that offer ticketing in Transit, form the core of Transit accounts. This new feature – also announced Sept. 9 – allows Transit users to enter their payment information once to purchase transit and bikeshare passes from a broad range of operators in cities across North America, including Citi Bike in New York; Capital Bikeshare in Washington, D.C.; Bike Share Toronto; Divvy in Chicago; and BIXI in Montreal.

Colorado is the third market worldwide to debut integrated mobile ticketing in Transit, made possible through collaboration with fare payment provider Masabi. Mobile ticketing through Transit was first introduced earlier this year in Ontario, Canada, through St. Catharines Transit Commission. Ticketing in St. Catharines was an instant hit, with riders there purchasing more than 1,200 tickets in the first 10 days. After three months, passengers were activating more than 900 tickets each day with Transit. A consortium of transit systems across Ohio gained access in June, and additional transit agencies – including the RTC in Southern Nevada, Dayton RTA, and all three systems covering metro Cincinnati – will launch ticketing with Transit this fall.

"Tens of thousands of people across the Denver metro area already open Transit on their phone to plan their trip, track their ride and make connections with ridehail, bikeshare and scooter services. Adding RTD ticketing creates a complete, simplified experience for riders," said Jake Sion, chief operating officer at Transit. "With a Transit account, users can not only purchase RTD tickets but also pay for transit and multimodal connections in cities across North America. By making it easy for riders to purchase tickets in their favorite app, RTD is setting the tone for other transit agencies across the nation."

“Practical Mobility as a Service is about delivering an integrated and intuitive journey experience across all transit types for all citizens,” said Masabi CEO Brian Zanghi. “Denver is a perfect example of how having access to public transit tickets through best-of-breed apps which people are already familiar with, increases the accessibility and discoverability of public transit services. We are in no doubt that this innovative practical approach will see increased ridership, making cities like Denver less congested and better places to live, work and visit.”

Masabi’s Justride SDK allows Transit to request fare types, make payments, and deliver visual and barcode tickets to riders through secure ticket wallets. The SDK communicates with Masabi’s servers to understand complex fare tables and manage the ticket lifecycle and security. Agencies using the SDK also have access to the Justride Hub, from which they can access a wealth of back-office data including real-time sales, usage and validation information and an extensive customer services interface.