LOS ANGELES (CNS) – Transit users in Los Angeles can now pay for DASH and Commuter Express bus fares using a smartphone app, it was announced.
The LA Mobile app, which can be downloaded on iPhone and Android systems, allows riders to use credit or debit cards to buy tickets for the buses, which are operated by the city’s Transportation Department.
Once purchased, the tickets are displayed on the riders’ phones and can be shown to bus drivers at boarding time. However, reduced transit fares for students, seniors and people with disabilities cannot be purchased using the app.
Transportation Department General Manager Seleta Reynolds said tuesday, Feb. 17, Los Angeles is the first to use a mobile fare purchasing app systemwide, and “we look forward to continually working to develop technology for the benefit of our riders.”
Mayor Eric Garcetti, who participated in a demonstration bus ride, said the app will motivate more people to use public transit, “helping cut traffic and smog.”
The app was developed by a Portland-based company, GlobalSherpa.