One in eight (13%) of North American and Western European mobile users will use their NFC-enabled mobile phone as a metro rail or bus ticket by 2016 according to a study compiled by Juniper Research.
Currently just 1% of the market use this form of wireless payment system.
The study found that while all types mobile tickets of are growing in popularity, the ability to leverage an NFC phone containing a mobile ticket against an entrance gate has tremendous user appeal.
A mobile phone ticket also provides new marketing and sales opportunities for operators, it said.
Juniper Research warns, however, that NFC Ticketing must be thoroughly tested before being launched to the public.
The report author David Snow says NFC mobile ticketing is still in its early stages, but it holds great promise across the entire mobile ticketing market.
Metro ticketing is leading the way as an NFC ticket is a natural evolution from a contactless transport card and can leverage the existing infrastructure.
"Add to this the option of simultaneous payment and you have created a compelling user experience," adds Snow.
NFC mobile tickets will represent more than 50% of all mobile ticketing revenue by 2016.
