DART inaugurates MyDART app today

Starting today, DART riders can use their smartphones to pay for their bus fare by downloading the MyDART app. MyDART lets riders purchase bus passes on their smartphone they show to the bus operator when boarding any DART Local, Express, Flex/On Call or Paratransit vehicle.

“Mobile ticketing is an increasingly popular way to pay for public transit,” said DART Chief Executive Officer Elizabeth Presutti. “With 73% of DART riders owning a smartphone, we hope the addition of the MyDART app improves the customer experience, and also attracts new riders to the system.”

Until today, DART riders had to use exact cash, valid employer/school ID cards, tokens or printed bus passes to pay their fare. More than half of riders use printed bus passes, which must be purchased in-person at DART Central Station or at a pass sales outlet, typically a retail or grocery store. By using the MyDART app, these riders no longer have to keep track of a printed pass and can save time by purchasing bus passes anywhere, anytime on their smartphone.

How the app works

1. Download MyDART on Android or iOS.
2. Create an account.
3. Search the MyDART store for bus passes.
4. Check out with a debit or credit card.
5. Activate the bus pass just before boarding.
6. Show the active pass to the bus operator.

When DART installs new fareboxes in summer 2018, riders will be able to scan the MyDART app at the farebox instead of showing activated passes to the bus operator. In the future, a trip planner and real-time bus arrival information will be available in the MyDART app.

New passes available

With the launch of the app, DART is introducing a day bus pass. Another benefit to riders is that weekly and monthly passes are sold in the app as 7-day and 31-day rolling passes. Riders can activate their pass any day of the week or month, rather than being tied to the first day of the week or month.

MyDART was developed by Bytemark, a mobile ticketing platform company, with a connection to Greater Des Moines. Bytemark CEO and Co-Founder, Micah Bergdale, is a native of Urbandale and excited to be working with his hometown community.

“Des Moines is my hometown where I grew up. I rode DART numerous times as a kid around Des Moines and Urbandale. To know Bytemark is bringing the technology we have developed back to where I grew up to make transit all that much better in Central Iowa is an absolute thrill. We are looking forward to a fruitful, multi-year relationship with DART that helps put technology front and center on how we can improve transit in the region.”

DART will have additional staff at DART Central Station this week to assist riders with downloading and using the MyDART app. Any questions or comments about MyDART can be directed to DART Customer Service team at 515-283-8100 or dart@ridedart.com.

The Des Moines Area Regional Transit Authority (DART) is the public transportation provider in and around Polk County. DART operates a family of transportation services that connects thousands of people every day to jobs, school, medical appointments, entertainment and more. For more information about DART services, schedules, route changes, or directions to the nearest DART stop, visit the website at ridedart.com or call 515-283-8100.

Bytemark, Inc. has been a leader in providing mobile ticketing technologies to the transit industry for 5 years with the release of the New York Waterway app in January 2012. Bytemark has offices in the USA, Canada, UK, Australia and India and solutions currently deployed in Canada, USA, UK, Poland and the Netherlands.