Transport Ticketing Blog

Masabi Wins Ticketing Technology of the Year at Transport Ticketing Global Awards 2026

Written by James Gooch | 18-Mar-2026 12:13:34

We’re proud to share that Masabi has been awarded Ticketing Technology of the Year at this year’s Transport Ticketing Global Awards.

Before anything else, it’s worth pausing on how these awards are judged. The Transport Ticketing Global Awards are decided by an independent panel of industry expert, leaders from transport authorities, operators, and across the ticketing ecosystem. People who have seen the challenges first-hand. People who know the difference between a good idea and something that actually works at scale.

That independence matters. It means this recognition isn’t about who tells the best story - it’s about what’s being delivered in the real world.

Masabi Wins Ticketing Technology of the Year at Transport Ticketing Global Awards 2026

 

A Different Approach to Fare Collection

For a long time, fare collection has followed a familiar pattern:
large, bespoke systems, built from the ground up, taking years to deliver.

Masabi’s Justride platform takes a different approach.

Instead of starting from scratch each time, operators and authorities adopt a modular, enterprise SaaS platform - one that can be configured, scaled, and continuously improved. The idea is simple: make modernisation faster, more repeatable, and less risky.

 

What That Looks Like in Practice

In 2025, that approach translated into real delivery momentum:

  • 93 major fare collection upgrades delivered (more than double the previous year)
  • 15% reduction in average launch time
  • Up to 46 concurrent projects running at once

Across:

  • Mobile ticketing
  • Account-Based Ticketing (smartcard and mobile)
  • Open Payments

At the same time, the platform processed $billions in fare payments and supported hundreds of millions of passenger journeys across more than 300 authorities and operators.

This is where Enterprise SaaS is a proven model for the industry. It is also where the advantages of SaaS over bespoke systems become clear: faster deployment, continuous updates, lower operational overhead and a more flexible back office foundation that can evolve over time.

 

Ticketing Technology of the Year award at the Transport Ticketing Global Awards 2026.

 

From Concept to Scale

Not long ago, SaaS in fare collection was still a relatively new idea.

Today, it’s being used to deliver everything from individual mobile ticketing deployments to large-scale milti-modal, multi-operator regional programmes like Montreal’s ARTM - demonstrating that a modular platform can scale to meet the needs of even the most complex transport networks.

That shift, from bespoke builds to configurable platforms, is what this award recognises.

 

Consistency Matters

This year’s win builds on a strong track record at the Transport Ticketing Global Awards as the most awarded and recognised solution at the show (we believe).

Since 2019, Masabi has received multiple TTG awards and commendations, including:

  • 3 Ticketing Technology of the Year awards (2019, 2020, 2024 (HC), 2026)

Recent highlights include

  • 2025: Transport Ticketing Global Awards. Winner Supplier Innovation Award for Open Platform Integration Suite

  • 2025: Transport Ticketing Global Awards. Highly Commended for Best Passenger Experience Initiative for National Express

  • 2024: Transport Ticketing Global Awards. Justride Highly Commended for Ticketing Technology of the Year

  • 2024: Transport Ticketing Global Awards. Best Passenger Experience Initiative

  • 2023: Transport Ticketing Global Award. Ticketing Enabler of the Year Highly Commended for Masabi’s project with Northern using the Inspect SDK.

  • 2022: Two Transport Ticketing Global Awards. Ticketing Enabler of the Year Highly Commended for Justride’s Cash Digitization functionality.

  • 2022: Transport Ticketing Global Award. Best Smart Ticketing Programme (200k - 1m Daily Journeys) Highly Commended for Dayton RTA’s Tapp Pay solution

  • 2021: Transport Ticketing Global Award ‘Best Smart Ticketing Programme’ Awards for National Express West Midlands

  • 2021: Transport Ticketing Global Award ‘Best Smart Ticketing Programme’ for NEOride’s EZfare

These awards are all judged independently, which makes that consistency meaningful. It reflects not just innovation, but the ability to deliver, scale, and improve over time.

 

The Judges

What makes this recognition particularly meaningful is that the awards are judged independently by a panel of experts from across transport authorities, operators and the wider ticketing ecosystem. This year’s panel included leaders from organisations such as Transport for London, San Diego MTS, ATM Barcelona, Transport for New South Wales, the Department for Transport, and Translink, alongside independent consultants and industry bodies. That independent and diverse mix helps ensure a fair judging process, grounded in real-world experience of improving public transport and making it more accessible, convenient and seamless for passengers.

 

Partnerships that Make Progress Possible

A big thank you to Transport Ticketing Global for a fantastic event, and congratulations to all the winners and finalists. We’re especially grateful to our clients and partners around the world, whose collaboration, trust and shared ambition make this work possible. Together, we are helping to make public transport more convenient, seamless and accessible for passengers, connecting systems, services and journeys in ways that deliver real impact every day. 

 

Day 2 at Transport Ticketing Global 2026, with the Masabi team celebrating the Ticketing Technology of the Year award win.

 

Looking Ahead

Winning Ticketing Technology of the Year is a significant milestone—but it’s also part of a broader shift happening across the industry.

In 2026, Masabi will continue to:

  • Expand the Justride ecosystem
  • Integrate more deeply with journey planning and wider mobility services
  • Enhance APIs and SDKs to support faster innovation
  • Invest in performance, security, and operational tooling

All with a clear goal: helping transport authorities deliver simpler, more connected passenger experiences, without the need for large-scale system rebuilds.

 

A Final Note

Awards are a moment to reflect - but they’re also a reminder of what comes next.

For us, this recognition reinforces something we’ve believed for a long time:
that fare collection can be faster to deploy, easier to manage, and better for passengers.

It’s great to see that direction recognised by the people who know this industry best.

 

Want to find out more about how Justride, Masabi’s enterprise-grade SaaS fare collection platform, can support a modular approach to fare collection? Get in touch with our team today.