500 million to use mobiles as metro and bus travel tickets by 2015

Juniper Research findings suggest that Near Field Communications ticket usage is forecast to grow, beginning in 2013

New research from Juniper Research has suggested that 500 million people worldwide will use their mobile devices as travel tickets on metros, subways and buses by 2015.

This is over five times the number generated last year.

Juniper is expecting usage to spread widely from the current concentration in Japan and several European countries.

Whilst SMS ticketing has been in operation for several years in large cities in Scandinavia and Central & Eastern Europe such as Stockholm and Prague, Juniper believes that recent momentum in Near Field Communications (NFC) will only add to market growth.

As metro authorities begin the transition to open contactless payment systems, NFC ticket usage is forecast to grow significantly beginning in 2013.

Furthermore, mobile ticketing also has potential across train and air travel.

Juniper’s new report contains comprehensive and detailed five year forecasting for all the key market parameters including users, transactions and values for airline, rail and metro/bus ticketing.

Further key findings from the report include that Western Europe and the Far East & China will be the leading transport mobile ticketing regions by volume in 2015 and that poor user experience is an implementation risk, such as bar code reading issues.

Mobile Ticketing for Transport Markets report author Howard Wilcox said: "Whether by expansion of SMS and bar code delivery or by NFC, at Juniper we see convenience and choice for users as key advantages of mobile ticketing."

Further information:
Juniper Research