Pittsburgh Regional Transit riders can now use a mobile ticket on any of PRT’s vehicles, from bus to T to incline. Mobile ticketing has been in effect on the agency’s fleet of 700 buses for a year, but the move wasn’t widely advertised because the agency didn’t want to get people stuck: Until this week, mobile tickets couldn’t transfer to light rail.
CEO Katharine Kelleman said Wednesday she is thrilled by the systemwide launch.
“Now, whether you ride the bus, rail, either incline, or across different modes to get where you’re going, you’ll have access to the best our system has to offer,” she said.
The extension of mobile ticketing technology to the light rail system was complicated by strict regulations on what equipment can be installed, according to a PRT release about the launch.
Mobile tickets can be purchased through PRT’s Ready2Ride application or through the third-party app Transit.
To have a mobile ticketing account, which allows a user to add or store value, people must sign up for Ready2Ride with an email and password. Then, they can use Connect Card machines to add value to that account. The Transit app only allows single ticket purchases, which are good for an unlimited number of transfers for three hours.
PRT’s Director of Communications Adam Brandolph said the agency is still working on a mobile solution for the less than 5 percent of riders who have neither a bank account nor a smartphone. Under agreements currently being finalized with unnamed local retailers, a rider would be able to pay cash in exchange for a receipt with a QR code that could be tapped on the validator of any vehicle.
