Bytemark, a provider of mobile commerce products for the mass transit industry, last week announced that it has been awarded the contract to create a mobile payments infrastructure and smartphone app that relies on Bluetooth technology for the FutureRailway program in the U.K., according to a press release. FutureRailway is the delivery team working on behalf of the cross-industry Technical Strategy Leadership Group to implement the Rail Technical Strategy. FutureRailway operates as a collaboration between RSSB and Network Rail and was originally established to accelerate the uptake of innovation within the rail industry. 

Once completed, the FutureRailway smartphone app developed by Bytemark will offer transport operators and commuters several methods for purchasing and activating rail tickets. Bytemark said in the announcement that the system will leverage the Bluetooth LE wireless technology resident on modern smartphones, enabling riders to have their rail fare validated simply by walking through fare gates equipped with wireless readers. As long as their smartphone and Bluetooth are powered up, riders won't even need to remove the device from their pocket or briefcase. The new app will offer a host of other convenient features as well, including access to rail schedules, a rail system map, arrival times, GPS-based location services, and more.

"The FutureRailway initiative and its rail industry partners have come together to create a very progressive and strategic vision for their industry, and Bytemark is honored to be a part of the team that will help make that vision a reality," Micah Bergdale, CEO of Bytemark, said in a statement. "We continue to be selected as the mobile ticketing and mobile payments vendor of choice across the mass transit ecosystem, and we are pleased to be awarded this important contract with FutureRailway."

The FutureRailway contract award is the latest in a string of mass transit contract wins for Bytemark, according to the announcement. In 2014 Bytemark completed the implementation of a mobile ticketing and payments systems for Capital Metro, the regional transportation provider for Austin, Texas. Bytemark also recently launched a mobile ticketing app for the South Shore Line, a commuter rail connecting South Bend, Indiana, and Chicago, and released a major upgrade to the mobile ticketing app it developed for NY Waterway, the largest private ferry operator in the United States. Bytemark was also awarded contracts to implement its mobile ticketing solution in Toronto, Ontario, Canada for Metrolinx's UP Express.