Mobility as a service (MaaS) is a type of service that, through a joint digital channel, enables users to plan, book, and pay for multiple types of mobility services. Through MaaS, traveling by public transport becomes easier, faster and more convenient. A more optimized and more efficient management of processes in urban transport is achieved.

Beyond this, there are also immediate and tangible benefits for the urban communities like: development of the social environment, more precise management of public resources, better control, more transparency and accountability, increase in the quality, reliability and security of services, improvement of communication, and safety.

MaaS enables service integrators, such as CNS, to manage and optimize the modes of transport offered to travelers by public or private transport service providers.

The system covers all lines of urban and suburban public transport – over 1300 vehicles, as well as the 3 metro lines. Similar solutions have been implemented and are working successfully in London, Amsterdam, and New York. The automated urban transport system is a complex technological solution that works on multiple levels:

– Passengers – it allows them to travel quickly, easily, and cashless, providing more points for digital and physical sale of cards and tickets – online, vending machines and at cash registers. It also increases the level of security through video surveillance.
– Management of mass transport – Optimizes traffic schedules and tariff policies, controls the sale and validation of ticket cards, improves accountability, enables the integration of new payment and transport services, collects and analyzes data in order to improve the overall transport system of the city.

So far, the results are impressive – the portfolio of ticket services is optimized, it is in sync with the real needs and habits of the citizens of Sofia. Over 35,000 people a day travel through this smart service using contactless methods of payment. There has been a nearly 50% growth in single-trip travel over the past year, without affecting monthly sales and annual subscriptions.

With this service you can travel now, immediately and as much as you need, and pay at the end of the day. You travel via your bank card or digital wallet without having to purchase a physical travel document. With the deferred contactless payment in the public transport of Sofia, the one-time paper ticket is practically digitized. Anyone can use a digital ticket for a single trip without the need of commercial booths or official points of sale of cards and tickets, installing additional applications, and registering in advance. It is enough to bring your contactless bank card or mobile wallet closer to the subway entrance or to the validators on trams, trolleybuses, and buses.

The digital ticket is generated in a second with any debit, credit or prepaid card, mobile wallet (Apple Wallet and Google Pay), or smartwatch. The system reports the travel request in real time, and after the end of the day, based on the validations, an algorithm calculates the most advantageous fare for you.

This is where the financial incentive comes in, as a single trip cost you pay BGN 1.60 (the same as a single paper ticket), for two trips the price is BGN 3.20, and for three or more trips – BGN 4. Practically, for a maximum of BGN 4 per day you can travel unlimitedly – with unlimited vehicles and transfers.

This smart service brought over 300,000 new public transport users to Sofia in just 5 months. It marks the beginning of a radical change in the habits of public transport users in Sofia – it became more accessible, more attractive, the overall experience changed in a positive direction and, last but not least, it reduced the number of free passengers.