In New York City, Thousands Skip the Ticket Line to Pay for Transit Journeys Thanks to Partnership Between Academy Bus, Moovit and Masabi

With digital schedules and real-time information, mobile apps have become some of the most useful and efficient ways for public transit riders to plan their journeys. Riders can view their options and select the most suitable trips for them, but the most convenient apps offer users the ability to plan — and pay — for their journeys. 

This “Mobility as a Service” (MaaS) can help shift people away from using personally owned transportation (i.e. cars, bikes, scooters) and a focus on public and shared transportation. MaaS platforms have sophisticated, multimodal, data driven, algorithms that rely on real-time interfacing with multiple mobility service providers to allow riders to plan trip itineraries. The ability to electronically pay for the trip is critical to a MaaS offering and communicating with riders up to, during and after their ride is completed drives satisfaction and higher adoption rates.

This is the case with Academy Bus, the largest privately-owned ground transportation company in the US, which released an app called SilverPass in 2021.

Academy Bus announced a partnership with Moovit, a leading mobility solutions provider, and Masabi, the leading ticketing platform provider for public transit, to launch a seamless urban mobility experience for commuters in New Jersey and New York City — journey planning, mobile payment and real-time information — all from the SilverPass app. 

Just over one year later, Academy Bus is revealing new data about the success of the ‘plan, pay, ride’ mobility platform, including results from a recent Academy rider survey about the app experience.

Results show that SilverPass has filled a gap in the local market:

• Despite COVID waves, SilverPass has been downloaded almost 11,000 times since its launch
• Ninety-percent of Academy riders have downloaded the app to their smartphone, accessing crucial public transit information right from the palms of their hands
• More than 50% of SilverPass users use the app daily
• Purchasing mobile tickets is the most widely used function of the app
• Eighty-five percent of SilverPass users state they are either ‘Satisfied’ or ‘Very Satisfied’ with the ease of purchasing tickets in the app

Brian Zanghi, CEO at Masabi said: “At the outset of this project our goal was to enhance the rider experience for Academy Bus users, while making the ticketing process and administrative functions more efficient for their organization. These numbers show that, throughout unprecedented disruption, SilverPass helped Academy and their customers continue to travel safely and more efficiently, while lowering the administrative burden for the agency. We’re delighted to see the enthusiastic uptake and fantastic customer response to SilverPass, and excited for what the future holds.”

Powered by Moovit’s White Label App capabilities, SilverPass guides people in getting around effectively and conveniently via any mode of transport. The app provides users with multimodal journey planning with real-time arrival information, so they know exactly when their bus or train is arriving, a Live Directions feature with Get-Off Alerts for extra step-by-step guidance and Service Alerts so they can avoid disruptions on usual lines and plan their journey accordingly. 

Additionally, powered by Masabi’s fare payments technology, SilverPass allows users to purchase and validate mobile tickets for their journeys in a convenient,  contactless, and COVID-safe way.