From rideshare to bus fare: Uber integrates National Express West Midlands tickets with Masabi’s Justride platform

Wednesday, April 10, 2024

National Express West Midlands (NXWM) has unveiled a pioneering collaboration by introducing its bus tickets on the Uber app, leveraging Masabi’s Justride technology. This integration allows both NXWM and Uber users enhanced options and convenience in buying bus tickets for travel across the West Midlands. By incorporating NXWM bus services with traditional Uber rides, this feature offers a unified and easy-to-navigate platform for a variety of affordable transport tickets.

Here’s how it works: Simply open the Uber app, tap on the red bus icon, choose your journey, select the desired number of tickets, pay, and you’re ready to go! Ticket prices for National Express West Midlands buses begin at £2 for a single trip.

Enabled by Masabi’s Justride Software Development Kit (SDK), this integration ensures a fluid experience for passengers, combining secure ticket purchases within the Uber app. NXWM’s single, daily, and weekly bus tickets can now be bought through Uber, with riders validating their purchases as they board by scanning the ticket on NXWM’s 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.”

This advancement builds upon the collaborative efforts between NXWM and Masabi, which began in 2016 with the introduction of the mTicket application. Since then, the partnership has led to numerous technological breakthroughs, such as the introduction of a student-focused smart ticketing initiative in 2018, the transition to digital payment methods for ticket purchases at retail locations in 2021, and the deployment of the UK’s most extensive on-bus QR code ticket scanning system in 2023, utilizing Masabi’s Justride technology. Last year, Justride enabled 43 million bus trips, significantly improving operational efficiency and reducing the burden on drivers by 25%. With the availability of tickets on both the Uber platform and the NXWM mTicket app, travelers in the West Midlands now enjoy the flexibility of using either application to meet their ticket purchasing requirements.

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