West Yorkshire passengers prefer digital as MCard smashes 10m app ticket sales

West Yorkshire’s MCard Mobile app has reached a major milestone, selling its ten millionth ticket since launching in 2020.

It cements MCard’s position as the most successful ticketing scheme in the country outside London, as customers increasingly shift towards the convenience of digital ticketing.

The MCard Mobile app allows people to buy and store single, day, weekly and season tickets at any time, for use on any bus or train in West Yorkshire, regardless of the operator.

It has now been downloaded more than 347,000 times, with users scanning over 4.5 million bus journeys in 2025 alone.

MCard General Manager John Henshall said:

“Ten million tickets is a terrific milestone for an app which is leading the way in multi-operator integrated ticketing and a fantastic way to begin 2026. 

“In a challenging market, MCard is bucking the trend, and putting tickets at passengers’ fingertips is part of that. 

“It’s fantastic to see more people using the app with the market share as high as 97 per cent for 19-25 year olds. I’m positive this won’t be the first milestone reached as we continue to develop the app.”

MCard also helps young people to travel independently for school, college and seeing friends. Since 2020, under-19s have made more than 88 million bus journeys using MCard tickets, with almost three-quarters of under-19s choosing to travel using mobile tickets.

Tickets can also be uploaded to the physical under-19s MCard via the app for young people who don’t carry a smartphone.

Cllr Peter Carlill, deputy chair of the West Yorkshire Combined Authority's transport committee said:

“The MCard and its mobile app have consistently been top performers nationally when compared with other ticketing schemes – proving that people want simple, convenient ticketing, whichever way they choose to travel.” 

MCard continues to invest in improving the app and overall customer experience.

Further enhancements are planned over the next year, including an improved journey planner with live bus tracking, accessibility improvements, voluntary age verification for under-26s, discount codes, the ability to gift tickets to other users, purchase history, and clearer in app guidance and tools to support new and existing customers.

During 2025 several new features were introduced, including in app notifications and the option to log in using a device’s password manager or biometric ID. Customers can also choose to load tickets directly to a physical MCard, instead of scanning digital tickets using a smartphone.

Performance upgrades have also been delivered to make the app run faster and more smoothly.