RATP starts testing mobile ticketing app, SMS bus tickets ⋆ Alertify

RATP starts testing mobile ticketing app, SMS bus tickets

The Paris region public transport system announced the launch of new ticketing services, including loading tickets on a NFC smartphone and buying bus tickets by SMS. The Paris mobile ticketing app is starting with a small group of test users, with a plan for a full commercial roll-out in the summer of 2019. Paris mobile ticketing

RATP propose two apps geared towards specific audiences:

“Mon RER A”, available via IOS or Android, is an app dedicated to regular passengers on the RER A that allows them to visualise the location of trains in real-time.
“Next Stop Paris”, available via IOS or Android, is an app dedicated to tourists. Available in 10 languages, and capable of operating without an internet connection, the app provides information for passengers who do not travel frequently in the Île-de-France region.

RATP agents, present in all stations, are also equipped with dedicated apps that help them to better assist passengers in our spaces.

Lastly, precise local information is also available in stations, trains and buses via electronic displays (real-time schedules, traffic information) and fixed elements (signs, maps).

Update: On November 25, 2019, the Paris Great Region and Ile de France Mobility Authority launched the Via Navigo mobile application, which allows to purchase and validate your travel pass with your smartphone, thanks to Calypso.

With Via Navigo, travelers can now buy and validate their one way tickets, Navigo travel pass for a day, a week or a month and the Orly Bus – Roissy Bus tickets directly on their smartphone. This modernization of the Ile de France ticketing system has been carried out without any replacement or update of the 35.000 validators already deployed in buses, trams, metro and train stations in Ile-de-France.

Navigo is based on the Calypso standard, which makes easier the integration of ticketing solutions on smartphones. All the equipment that includes Calypso can manage traditional Navigo contactless cards and NFC smartphones, indiscriminately and with the same level of security, using the Calypso software application, the so called Applet, integrated into a secure component of the phone.Thus, in Paris Great Region, the service is offered to Orange and Sosh mobile operators’ clients and Samsung smartphone holders, both of whom have chosen to integrate the Calypso Applet into whether their SIM card or Secure Element. It represents therefore approximately five million smartphones eligible for a more convenient digital service, which meets the needs of all travelers, regular or occasional users and facilitates access to public transport.Other mobile operators or phone providers can further expand the number of eligible smartphones by choosing to integrate the Calypso Applet, which is a generic software developed by Calypso Networks Association (CNA) available for all, and thus offer the service to the greatest number of travelers.