Thanks for the infoThe general rule in Italy is/was to obtain your ticket from resellers, mostly bars and tobacconists. In Bologna, there are a few roadside machines at central locations (railway station, airport), and also in some vehicles that show a green placard: payment by coins, no change and fifty cents more expensive.
Thanks for the infoSome digging online suggests an app called Muver which is available in English, as well as at ticket machines and newspaper stands.
Thanks also for the infoI was there last year, and you could use contactless on some buses, but not every bus annoyingly. Apparently the ones with the equipment on them have a logo on them, but never saw it. We took bus to the lamborgini museum paying contactless, but the bus back on same route didn't have contactless terminal. The contactless terminal is behind the driver normally. All but that one bus (out of 4 or 5) we used had contactless.
#GOCONTACTLESS - Paga sul BUS con Carte di Credito Contactless
Benvenuti a bordo! Il nuovo validatore vi aspetta con un servizio di pagamento veloce e sicuro, per un viaggio più smart. È infatti possibile viaggiare in modo facile, veloce e sicuro, pagando direttamente sui nuovi validatori con carte contactless aderenti ai circuiti Mastercard, Visa, Maestro...www.tper.it
The airport shuttle also accepts contactless -- https://www.marconiexpress.it/en/tickets/paygo-contactless/
Thats very helpful thankyouIf arriving at Bologna Centrale, coming out of the main entrance (beware, it’s 4 stations in one) in the square in front of you on the right side (so if arriving on a West platform it’s next to the exit) there is a local ticket office where you can buy multiple urban tickets then validate on the bus.
I think it is marked TPER, the rail operator and not yet complete fares integration across Emilia Romagna, but I could be wrong.
Bus routes in and out of the centre are not clear, many stop pn the road over the bridge, not n front if the station.
Otherwise, as someone else said, in Italy always look for a tobacconist.