Nassau County, New York is to carry out a smartphone mobile ticketing pilot for its bus transit system, Nassau Inter-County Express or NICE Bus, with full rollout scheduled for summer 2014.

NICE has signed a pilot agreement with Masabi, a mobile ticketing and electronic transit payment provider that serves 17 transportation and retail companies worldwide including Boston's MBTA and San Diego's MTS in the U.S. and Virgin Trains and Cross Country in the U.K.

"We are delighted to be working with NICE to put a personalized ticket machine into the pocket of each of their customers," Josh Robin, Masabi's vice president for North America, said in a statement.

Ticket apps will be available for iPhones and Android phones, and the same mobile tickets will also be offered to users of Able-Ride, NICE's para-transit system that serves people with disabilities.

NICE riders will buy their mobile tickets on their phone and activate them as they board the bus. The tickets will be displayed on the smartphone and shown to the bus operator. They will also contain a barcode that can be scanned for occasional spot checks by NICE officials.

NICE says that in the future it may install different technology such as proximity readers or barcode generators that riders could scan to pay.

"We think mobile ticketing is a low cost, rapidly deployable and flexible alternative to our current systems that will make it easier for many riders to pay their fare," Michael Setzer, NICE's chief executive officer, said in a statement.

Nice is operated by Lombard, Illinois-based Veolia Transit Systems.

Read more about in-app payments.