Public transportation operators from across the US state of Ohio have gone live with EZfare, a new service that lets passengers use a single mobile ticketing app to buy tickets and passes from any of the participating operators.

EZfare is available for both iOS and Android and has also been integrated into journey planning app Transit.

The service is provided by NeoRide, a group of 13 public transportation operators in Ohio and Northern Kentucky that work together to share resources and deliver integrated transportation solutions.

Eight members are introducing EZfare today: Laketran (Lake County), MCPT (Medina County), Metro RTA (Summit County), Parta (Portage County), Sandusky Transit (Erie County), Sarta (Stark County), Tarta (Lucas County) and WRTA (Mahoning County).

BCRTA (Butler County), Sorta (Hamilton County) and Tank (Northern Kentucky) will then go live on 23 October.

Cincinnati Bell Connector (Cincinnati Streetcar) will launch on 30 October and the Lancaster-Fairfield Transit system will follow in January 2020.

EZfare is designed to deliver “a seamless payment and mobile ticketing system that will vastly improve the service we offer existing riders and help our agencies attract new ones,” said NeoRide president Ben Capelle.

“We recognise that standing in line at a transit centre can be time consuming and frustrating for regular riders and totally bewildering for people who have never used public transit, especially if a trip involves using multiple systems to reach a location in another county.

“EZfare eliminates those challenges by eliminating the need to obtain paper tickets and transfers.”

“Once a customer downloads EZfare, their smartphone or tablet becomes their ticket to ride to any of the thousands of destinations served by our systems,” he explained.

“It shouldn’t be difficult for someone who lives in southern Stark County to ride the bus to and from their job in northern Summit County,” Capelle added.

“The same goes for students, seniors, shoppers, anyone who needs to go anywhere in the communities we serve should be able to use public transit to get there.

“We’re already the most affordable transportation option; EZfare represents a significant step forward in making us the most convenient.”

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