Amtrak has something special for those out there who always commute back and forth from work everyday. The commuter service is launching its new eTicket program, which allows passengers to board trains nationwide without an annoying paper ticket — a cool concept that has gone live as of July 30.
Now this should come to no one’s surprise, especially since many transportation services look to smartphone-based ticking to move things along much quickly. Just a few weeks ago, we wrote how New York MTA is testing a smartphone-based ticketing system of its own for the Metro-North Railroad. A very novel idea that makes life much more easier when catching the train.
The way Amtrak’s program will work is it’ll let travelers with an eTicket go straight to the gate, avoiding ever having to stand in a ticket line looking at a schedule for the next train arrival. Once you have an eTicket, all you have to do is show the conductor it on your smartphone or mobile device, and after that’s done, the conductor will scan the eTicket with their iPhone. Yes, you heard right. Those of you who still love to print tickets need not worry, as that method is still good.
Customers across the nation will be able to put this new technology in motion right now (but for trains only), while people who ride the bus get their shot in the fall. It sure would be cool if Greyhound offered something like this, because its current system sucks, no offense. Anyway, you can snatch the iPhone application in the App Store.
[via cnet] photo cred: jvcarroll (photobucket)
