Austin, Showcase

In and around Austin, Texas, Capital Metro’s transit network is a vital link for people connecting daily with jobs, schools, and city life. The agency’s vision is to make transit easy, affordable and worry-free for passengers. With a new bus rapid transit system recently launched, Capital Metro decided to further enhance service with a more convenient ticketing option for their passengers, too. The solution is provided by INIT: the installation of the first on-vehicle mobile ticket reader in North America.

Project at a glance

3000

bus stops

50

metro routes

32

million passengers per year

The task

With the opening of a new bus rapid transit service in the capital city of Texas, Capital Metro decided to offer a faster, more convenient way for passengers to pay for fares. After implementing CapMetro App, a new mobile ticketing app, the only challenge left was finding validators that were capable of reading the new 2-D bar-coded tickets. Plus, robust enough to handle the extreme temperatures of Austin’s scorching summers.

The solution

In 2012, Capital Metro partnered with Bytemark, an innovative creator of mobile ticketing apps, for a mobile ticket pilot during the world-renowned Formula One race held in Austin, Texas. The ease of deployment and flexibility of the Bytemark platform convinced Capital Metro to further expand on the pilot and implement a mobile ticketing app on their BRT system, MetroRapid. The CapMetro App, which uses a 2-D barcode, became the agency's new mobile ticket offering and was soon after made available to riders as a free download from Capital Metro's website.

Launching a mobile app required onboard validators to read the new 2-D mobile tickets. One requirement was the ability of the hardware to withstand extreme temperatures - especially heat - due to the temperatures of Austin's summer months.

The conclusion

The CapMetro App project has put Austin on the map for something more than great music and culture. The PROXmobil2 devices onboard their BRT system is the first on-vehicle mobile ticket reader installed in North America. The mobile ticket offering translates to a smoother, more convenient service for passengers and a more efficient e-fare solution for Capital Metro.