UK vendor Masabi has won a contract to supply the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) with a system that enables commuters to buy tickets and passes using their smartphones and then display them on their phone screen. It will be the first such service in the US when it launches, the partners said. The partners expect a full deployment across MBTA’s transport infrastructure in autumn 2012 following a trial in late summer. MBTA is the fifth largest transit agency in the US and serves 1.3 million passenger trips each weekday. The mobile ticketing app will be available for iPhone, Android and BlackBerry devices.

Less than half of MBTA’s 140 commuter railway stations have fare vending machines which forces commuters to buy tickets on board trains. Offering them the option to purchase via their smartphones should make life easier both for travellers and the transit agency.  The service will also help MBTA to reduce costs by removing the need to install additional vending machines and lowering its cash handling costs, the agency said. All mobile tickets will have barcodes displayed on the smartphone screen so that their validity can be checked.