Bus Ticket Booking App Development: Features, Cost (2024)

Standing in the queue for hours just to get the bus ticket is now history. It doesn’t sound good to go through a lot of hassle in order to book a bus ticket when technology is ruling the world in every walk of life. So, the bus ticket booking app or Bus ticket booking system is the innovation that has streamlined the task to a significant extent for the users. While these apps deliver a lot of comfort to the end users, bus ticket booking app development is a great investment idea for whoever looking to put money in the future.

Apps like RedBus, and Make My Trip are already making millions just by allowing people to reserve their seats on a bus from their home. According to Straitsresearch, the global online bus ticketing market was valued at USD 6.2 billion in 2021 which is expected to touch the milestone of $22.6 billion by the end of 2030. Registering a CAGR of 14.9% in the forecasted year, this business idea is all set to shed a bright return on investment.

So, here is the complete guide for you to develop a bus ticket booking application-

What is a Bus Ticket Booking App?

As the name suggests, any software that helps to book a bus ticket online or leverage any other bus service n from the comfort of home is known as a bus ticket booking app. Such software consists of several features and functionalities that streamline the user’s bus journey and save them from a lot of hassle of standing in the queue.

One can check the buses running on certain routes, the timing of all the fleets, and seat availability in the bus, buy the tickets, pay for the tickets, make online payments, cancel tickets, or generate any queries. All a user has to do is register in the app and get the desired seat in the best fleets.

Features for Bus Ticket Booking App Development

Features are the constituents of any app as they combinely define the overall purpose of the application. There are different features that a user will expect when you are developing an online bus ticket booking app. Here is a glance over the different features that will help you develop a competent bus booking app–

Sign-up and Registration

When using a bus booking app, first of all, the user must be invited to proceed with the registration. There are multiple registration options that you can implement in your application to make the registration process more streamlined for the users. The app should allow the users to make a profile by fetching the information from Google accounts, and social media accounts as well as entering the information manually.

Search bar

Searching for a particular root at a particular time among the plethora of running buses should not be complicated for the users. For the same, a search bar should be integrated into the system that assists the users in finding their relevant routes on a particular day and time. This feature makes it easier for the target audience to select and book the bus.

Sorting and filtering

Sorting and filtering is another feature that helps the users filter the bus types and categories according to their preferences. For example, one can apply the filter to find air-conditioned, sleeper, or luxury buses only. At the same time, sorting also makes it easier to find the buses that provide services to certain boarding and dropping points.

Seat mapping and selection

As the name feature suggests, it imparts the bus seating map in the application. The user can simply select the seats manually according to the price distribution or personal preference. The map should also carry the number or tag system to ensure that the users can easily find their seats when boarding the bus. At the same time, this feature should be able to provide real-time information on the availability of the seats.

Cancellation

The Cancellation feature allows the user to cancel their reservation before the journey starts. This type of feature boosts the reliability of users on the app and thus establishes a loyal user base for the application. However, there have to be certain rules for cancellation to prevent unnecessary empty carts.

Rescheduling or upgrade

There should also be an option for rescheduling the bus tickets in case there is any change in the plan for the users. This feature helps to change the traveling date and time. Similarly, the upgrade feature allows the user to change their existing seating category to a superior one if the seats are available.

Payment gateways

Secure payment gateways are among the biggest requirements for an online bus ticket booking application. This feature allows the user to pay for their bookings safely without any risk of data breaches or hacking.

Rating and reviews

Every user should be able to provide reviews and ratings on their bus journey. Here they can talk about the bus conditions, services, and behavior of bus staff, and thus guide the other passengers who are planning to book their journey. The rating and review feature allows the bus owner to assess the customer experience and thus make the necessary corrections.

User-friendly interface

Bus booking apps are supposed to be a part of daily schedules for common people who are not that tech-savvy. So, it becomes important to have a user-friendly interface that everyone can understand and use easily to book their bus tickets. Options like pickup point, dropping point, boarding, date, seat maps, routes, seat availability, etc. should be placed on the most accessible interface.

E-ticket

This feature in the bus ticket booking app generates an e-ticket for travelers that they can show during the time of boarding. The e-ticket represents the confirmation of journey details and booking status so that a user can plan accordingly.

Real-time bus tracking

Bus tracking feature allows the user to track their fleet in real-time. This plays a significant role to determine the time of arrival and departure in case of a change in timing due to weather or technical issues.

Chat windows

The chat windows connects the bus operator to passenger where they can share and answer different queries. AI-integrated chatbots enhance the user experience by providing them the solutions in no time.

Benefits of a Bus Ticket Booking App

Before developing a bus booking app, it is a good idea to have a look at the various benefits that such software delivers to end users. Lack of user advantage and future benefits will lead your software to get dissolved in the ocean of various app markets and never achieve the expected outcomes. To make a go-to platform for the customers, it is important for the application to deliver some value to its target audience.

So, here are some of the advantages that bus booking app users leverage-

1. Enquiries

First of all, a user doesn’t have to roam from window to window and make tens of calls to know about a particular bus or route. The bus booking app gives all the information about the buses running on a particular route, types of buses, ticket fare, timing, dates, and much more.

2. Booking from home

With just a few taps, the user can reserve their space in any kind of fleet available on a particular route. All they have to do is find their bus, select the seat, and pay for the same. This brings in a lot of convenience for the users to plan their upcoming journeys without any hassle.

3. Customize boarding and dropping points

Most of the bus booking apps come with the functionality where the user can choose their boarding points and dropping locations. So, they don’t have to pay a huge amount to cab driver as they can choose the pickup and drop location near their residence.

4. Bus tracking

Real-time fleet tracking system in such an app is a wonderful feature to ensure that the passenger doesn’t have to wait for eternity on the bus stand as well as doesn’t miss their bus in case of early arrival. They can check the live location of the bus and determine the arrival time to accordingly plan their schedule.

5. Seamless payment

Without touching the cash, the bus booking app allows the users to pay the complete fare of the ticket via different payment methods. This allows a smooth and secure transaction between the service provider and the service seeker. The invoice can be downloaded instantly as proof of payment.

6. Easy cancellation

In case of any change in plan, one doesn’t have to fall into an argument with the bus owner or any vendor. Just a few clicks and the ticket can be canceled without any further formalities. Similarly, a refund is also initiated in the defined time period.

Technology Stack Required to Build a Bus Ticket Booking App

The technology stack allows the developer to build a strong architecture of the application to handle a big traffic of users. Choosing the right technology stack is a crucial process to make sure that all the features and functionalities work seamlessely. Here is the technology stack that you can use to build customized bus ticket booking app–

Popular Bus Ticket Booking Mobile Apps

Turning toward the market leaders in online bus ticket booking app landscape can be a great idea to estimate the success of such ticket booking apps. So, let’s have a glance over some of the biggest bus ticket booking apps that are ruling the market-

1. RedBus

RedBus is among the most known names among ticket booking software that helps users in booking bus tickets for different bus routes along with providing attractive discount coupons. The easy-to-use interface of this application allows the users to select the route, choose the particular bus, access the seat map, choose the seat/s, pay for the same, and get ready for the journey.

2. Swvl

Swvl is another bus booking app that allows users to select among the different categories of fleet for their journey. A user can easily book the bus ticket for AC Volvo, Deluxe, AC, Sleeper, Seater, or any other category. At the same time, Swvl has a lot of bus operators registered with them which provides options to users to cover almost all the bus routes.

3. MakeMyTrip

MakeMyTrip is one of the most used ticket-booking apps that not only enables users to book bus tickets but also invites them to have a tour via train, airplane, and much more. Moreover, thai software even has hotels in its list where anyone can book their rooms in any city around the world. MakeMyTrip has over 1300 bus operators registered in India only. One can book several kinds of buses including Deluxe, Ac Luxury, Sleeper, Volvo AC, Mercedes, Volvo AC, and many others.

4. Goibibo

Goibibo is also a well-known name in the ticket booking scenario with nationwide bus operators registered with the platform. By generating the e-tickets, users can easily begin their journey without any hassle. Similar to other bus ticket booking apps, user can book their tickets from different categories using Goibibo as well.

How to Build a Bus Ticket Booking App? – Step-by-Step

Developing a bus booking app requires a good amount of investment and thus it becomes necessary for you to have a slight familiarity with the app development process. So, here are the major steps that help in efficient mobile app development-

1. Ideating the application

Before jumping to the development stage, you must make sure that you have a clear vision of the digital solution you want to develop. You should know the challenge that your application is supposed to solve. At the same time, list down all the features and functionalities that you want to see in the application. This will help you present your idea in a better way to the development team.

2. Resource planning

This is the step where you plan all the resources that will be required to develop the bus booking application. First of all, you hire a development team for your project and initiate the budget discussion. After that, the discussion about human resources, technical resources, time periods, and outcomes of the project takes place. This is generally the planning stage of the project with your development partner.

3. Request a bus booking app wireframe

Your development team delivers a bus booking app wireframe that gives a complete idea about the appearance, features, and functionalities of the software. This prototype helps significantly to assess the user experience with the app, make the necessary improvements, and collect feedback from the relevant stakeholders.

4. Core development

This is the core development stage of the application where the coders and programmers will be writing the front-end and back-end codes of the software. Being one of the most important stages of the software development lifecycle, all the functionalities are imparted into the app at this phase. At the same time, tasks like API integration and third-party integrations are also carried out at this stage only.

5. Testing

Once the developers are done with the development tasks, the team of quality analysts takes over the project to check the functionalities of all the features imparted into the app. Also, they remove all the bugs which possibly affect the software performance. Speed tests are conducted that ensure that the loading speed is ample in the application.

6. Deployment

This is the final stage of the application development where the bus booking app will be deployed to the respective app market. There are two major app markets viz. Google Play Store and Apple App Store which helps in covering most of the target audience using smartphones around the world.

Team Structure Required to Develop a Bus Ticket Booking Application

The software development company that you hire for your bus ticket booking app development plays a vital role in determining the efficiency of the project. There are different roles in a development team who carry out their assigned tasks in order to achieve the final outcomes. Let’s talk about some of the core members of a software development team required to develop a bus booking app–

Project Manager

First of all comes the project manager who is responsible for the overall management of the project. The person playing this role bridges the communication gap between the project owner to those of the development team. At the same time, the project managers look upon the overall tasks of designers, developers, testers, and all the other members engaged in the development process.

Developers

Undoubtedly, developers are the most important part of the chain who write the complete front-end and back-end codes to develop the features and functionalities of the software. At the same time, all the third-party integration work is also carried out by the developers only.

UI/UX designers

As the name suggests, designers build the complete user interface of the application to ensure a seamless user experience. The proficiency of a UI/UX designer plays an important role in determining the user-friendliness of your digital platform.

Quality analysis team

To make sure that the end product doesn’t carry any bugs and all the functionalities are working as per the expectation, the quality analysis team performs several tests. It includes performance tests, feature tests, speed tests, bug removal, and much more.

Monetization Models That Can be Imparted in a Bus Ticketing Application

When putting a lot of investment in application development, it becomes necessary to think about the ways that application is going to repay us. In simpler words, planning about ROI helps make sure that our expected financial visions are achieved.

When developing a bus ticket booking app, you don’t have to worry about the monetization models as there are different strategies that you can use for your booking application to make a pure profit-

Transactional Model

This is one of the most used monetization models for the software like bus booking app. As the title suggests, it will help you charge the user a certain amount or percentage every time the user books a ticket. This is also called the platform fee that applies whenever the user makes any transaction on the application.

Subscription fee

This can be a good option when you have frequent travelers in your user base. To keep using the application for booking the journey or getting information on the routes, the user will have to pay a certain amount periodically. Subscriptions can be weekly, monthly, quarterly, or yearly.

One-time fee

As the name suggests, this monetization model charges the users at the time of registration. Having paid the registration fee, the user will be able to use the rest of the features for free for a lifetime.

Freemium model

When your bus ticket booking app is a mixture of paid and free versions, it is called the freemium model. Here, you can allow your users to access certain features free of cost while the advanced features can be accessed by paying the charges. For example, you can allow your users to check the routes for free while implementing particular charges to book the tickets.

Advertisement model

This is also one of the widely used monetization models, but only in the case when your platform deals with thousands of users on a daily basis. With such a huge user base, you can invite the brands to advertise their offerings on your platform and charge for the same. Depending on this monetization model, you can provide all the other services for free to your users.

Estimated Cost to Create a Bus Ticket Booking App

The development costs of a bus ticket booking app significantly depend on a number of components consisting of direct and indirect costs. Stitching a price tag to the app development can never be possible as it will change with every decision of yours. Here are some of the components that will help you determine the cost of developing a bus ticket booking app-