Mobile ticketing is the process whereby customers order, pay for, obtain, and validate

ticket Ticket or tickets may refer to: Slips of paper * Lottery ticket * Parking ticket, a ticket confirming that the parking fee was paid (and the time of the parking start) * Toll ticket, a slip of paper used to indicate where vehicles entered a tol ...

s using

mobile phone A mobile phone, cellular phone, cell phone, cellphone, handphone, hand phone or pocket phone, sometimes shortened to simply mobile, cell, or just phone, is a portable telephone that can make and receive calls over a radio frequency link whi ...

s. A mobile ticket contains a verification unique to the holder's phone. Mobile tickets reduce the production and distribution costs associated with paper-based ticketing for operators by transferring the burden to the customer, who is required to contribute the cost of the physical device (

smartphone A smartphone is a portable computer device that combines mobile telephone and computing functions into one unit. They are distinguished from feature phones by their stronger hardware capabilities and extensive mobile operating systems, whic ...

) and internet access to the process. As a result of these prerequisites, and in contrast to paper-based systems, mobile ticketing does not follow the principles of

universal design Universal design is the design of buildings, products or environments to make them accessible to people, regardless of age, disability or other factors. It addresses common barriers to participation by creating things that can be used by the ma ...

. Mobile tickets should not be confused with e-tickets, which are simply tickets issued in electronic form, independent of a specific device and in a standard, intelligible format, that can be printed and used in paper form. While a mobile phone is compatible with an e-ticket, mobile ticketing is a distinct system. There are several methods of implementing a mobile ticketing system, with varying degrees of complexity and transparency depending on the underlying technology. Mobile tickets may lessen the potential for scalping (touting) and fraud.

History

The

QR code A QR code (an initialism for quick response code) is a type of matrix barcode (or two-dimensional barcode) invented in 1994 by the Japanese company Denso Wave. A barcode is a machine-readable optical label that can contain information about th ...

was created by a subsidiary of the Japanese automotive company Denso in 1994.

Philips Koninklijke Philips N.V. (), commonly shortened to Philips, is a Dutch multinational conglomerate corporation that was founded in Eindhoven in 1891. Since 1997, it has been mostly headquartered in Amsterdam, though the Benelux headquarters i ...

and

Sony , commonly stylized as SONY, is a Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. As a major technology company, it operates as one of the world's largest manufacturers of consumer and professiona ...

developed

near-field communication Near-field communication (NFC) is a set of communication protocols that enables communication between two electronic devices over a distance of 4 cm (1 in) or less. NFC offers a low-speed connection through a simple setup that can be u ...

(NFC) in 2002. It is based on radio-frequency identification (RFID) technology and enables short-range communication between electronic devices. Philips published an early paper on NFC in 2004, while the NFC Forum was established in the same year. The

GSMA The GSM Association (commonly referred to as 'the GSMA' or ''Global System for Mobile Communications'', originally ''Groupe Spécial Mobile'') is an industry organisation that represents the interests of mobile network operators worldwide. More ...

published a whitepaper on M-Ticketing in 2011, having commissioned research to examine the opportunities for network operators in a mobile ticketing market. The research was focused on a specific NFC system based on the UICC, which is owned and controlled by the network operator that issues it, and other technologies such as SMS and

barcode A barcode or bar code is a method of representing data in a visual, machine-readable form. Initially, barcodes represented data by varying the widths, spacings and sizes of parallel lines. These barcodes, now commonly referred to as linear or o ...

were given passing consideration in the report. The first mobile ticketing deployment for a public transport operator in the UK was for Chiltern Railways in 2007. The first transit agency in the US to deploy mobile ticketing was Boston's MBTA in 2012, while the first system in Australia was

Adelaide Metro Adelaide Metro is the public transport system of Adelaide, the capital city of South Australia. It is an intermodal system offering an integrated network of bus, tram, and train service throughout the metropolitan area. The network has an ann ...

in 2017. The

New York Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. They are one of ...

partnered with

Ticketmaster Ticketmaster Entertainment, Inc. is an American ticket sales and distribution company based in Beverly Hills, California with operations in many countries around the world. In 2010, it merged with Live Nation under the name Live Nation Enter ...

in 2015 and adopted a new ticketing policy the following year. The option of a print-at-home e-ticket ( PDF), which was popular among fans for its convenience, was replaced by a mobile ticketing system. In 2017, the state of

Connecticut Connecticut () is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. Its capita ...

passed a law that requires venues to make printed, paper tickets available to customers and provide a means to transfer tickets without restrictions. In 2019, a mobile-only ticketing system developed by Ticketmaster was installed in stadiums across the NFL, based on the Presence platform developed by the company in 2017. The platform is an access control system and marketing tool involving personalized digital tickets and tracking software. The mobile-only version of the system, SafeTix, links the tickets to individual smartphones and was adopted by the vast majority of NFL franchises due to Ticketmaster's position as primary ticket partner of the league. The Buffalo Bills received praise from several organizations, including the NAACP, for not adopting mobile-only ticketing, while fans across the league experienced delays and refusals of entry due to a range of issues with the system. The

All England Club The All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club, also known as the All England Club, based at Church Road, Wimbledon, London, England, is a private members' club. It is best known as the venue for the Wimbledon Championships, the only Grand Slam ...

implemented mobile ticketing with an online-only ballot and a ban on ticket transfers for the

2021 Wimbledon Championships The 2021 Wimbledon Championships was a Grand Slam tennis tournament that took place at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club in Wimbledon, London, United Kingdom. Novak Djokovic successfully defended his gentlemen's singles title to cl ...

, citing

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was identified in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. The disease quickly ...

protocols developed by the SGSA. The policy was criticized by

Age UK Age UK is a registered charity in the United Kingdom, formed on 25 February 2009, and launched on 1 April 2009, which combined the operations of the previously separate charities Age Concern England and Help the Aged to form the UK's largest ch ...

for lacking an offline option. A number of

Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Fo ...

clubs adopted a mobile-only policy for the 2021–22 season, resulting in problems accessing their respective grounds and pushback from supporters' groups.

Liverpool F.C. Liverpool Football Club is a professional football club based in Liverpool, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. Founded in 1892, the club joined the Football League the following year and has p ...

gave its fans the option of a photographic smart card for those without an NFC-enabled phone. ID cards of any form are controversial among football supporters and have been rejected by English fans in the past. For the

2021 File:2021 collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: the James Webb Space Telescope was launched in 2021; Protesters in Yangon, Myanmar following the coup d'état; A civil demonstration against the October 2021 coup in Sudan; Crowd shortly after t ...

season, the NFL is mandating mobile-only ticketing across the league. The mandate removes the option to issue paper tickets for the few franchises that had not enforced a mobile-only policy, and codifies the requirement for every fan to own a smartphone and grant access to it in order to attend a game. A fifth of Americans do not own a smartphone, either by choice or due to constraint.

Methods

There are several methods of implementing a mobile ticketing system, depending on the technology used. In a system based on

text messaging Text messaging, or texting, is the act of composing and sending electronic messages, typically consisting of alphabetic and numeric characters, between two or more users of mobile devices, desktops/laptops, or another type of compatible comput ...

, the user receives their ticket in the form of either an

alphanumeric Alphanumericals or alphanumeric characters are a combination of alphabetical and numerical characters. More specifically, they are the collection of Latin letters and Arabic digits. An alphanumeric code is an identifier made of alphanumeric c ...

code or a barcode. In a process based on a

mobile application A mobile application or app is a computer program or software application designed to run on a mobile device such as a phone, tablet, or watch. Mobile applications often stand in contrast to desktop applications which are designed to run on des ...

, the user carries out a transaction through the app and receives a verification, such as a QR code, specific to their account. Where NFC technology is used, a ticket is issued in the form of a discreet token generated by emulation software on the user's phone itself.

Privacy and transparency

The operation of a mobile ticketing system raises issues of privacy and

security" \n\n\nsecurity.txt is a proposed standard for websites' security information that is meant to allow security researchers to easily report security vulnerabilities. The standard prescribes a text file called \"security.txt\" in the well known locat ...

. The harvesting of personal data points enables an operator to model, predict, and potentially modify, the behavior of a customer. The implementation of

OMNY OMNY ( , short for One Metro New York) is a contactless fare payment system, currently being implemented for use on public transit in the New York metropolitan area. When OMNY is completely rolled out, it will replace the MetroCard on the Ne ...

, a contactless fare payment system for public transport in New York City, has provoked a number of concerns related to surveillance,

data security Data security means protecting digital data, such as those in a database, from destructive forces and from the unwanted actions of unauthorized users, such as a cyberattack or a data breach. Technologies Disk encryption Disk encryption refe ...

, and transparency in the usage of passengers'

information Information is an abstract concept that refers to that which has the power to inform. At the most fundamental level information pertains to the interpretation of that which may be sensed. Any natural process that is not completely random ...

. The system, which uses NFC technology, collects significant amounts of user data, including device identifiers and

IP address An Internet Protocol address (IP address) is a numerical label such as that is connected to a computer network that uses the Internet Protocol for communication.. Updated by . An IP address serves two main functions: network interface ident ...

es, locations of entry, billing addresses, and payment information.

References

{{Mobile phones Mobile technology Travel technology Tickets

History

Methods

Privacy and transparency

See also

References