TICKETING
a very static, one-transaction activity, to something that allows you to use a multi- tude of products in a far easier and more accessible way.
“I spoke to somebody yesterday who had a family of four who travelled to London for the day; they had 18 tickets. If they were travelling by smart card, they would have had four smart cards.
“This will create flexibility for the passen- ger or customer over the decisions they can make. The evidence from schemes like Octopus in Hong Kong or Oyster in London is that it’s made it easier and faster for people to do things, particularly obtaining monthly season tickets.
“But then there’s the idea of moving smart ticketing away from a card, or buying a tick- et with a set price, to more flexible prod- ucts.
“A season ticket at the moment doesn’t change, whether you’re getting on at 2pm, or if you happen to be getting on at 7.35am in the middle of peak traffic. But an opera- tor will be able to look at a season ticket holder and use travel data to discover they are taking four off-peak trains a week.
“They could then choose to give them cred- its towards their next season ticket, or loy- alty points, or other vouchers, and incen- tivise them to change behaviour in a way today’s market doesn’t allow you to do.”
There are other clear advantages for both the passenger and operator, Leach explains: “I would argue that most rail franchises in the country know very little about their cus- tomers, apart from their season ticket hold- ers, and even then they don’t have a lot of information.
“Smart ticketing offers the opportunity for the first time to build that relationship with the customer.
“The Tesco Clubcard or Nectar points schemes recognise you as a valued custom- er. If you think about the value of transac- tions for a season ticket on National Rail, when the average is £3,500 now for a sea- son ticket into London, that’s a significant investment. Wouldn’t it be great if you had a better relationship with that customer?
“You could allow those who opt in to build up everything ranging from loyalty points to discounts on their next season ticket through to a monthly analysis of what they are doing and how best they can get value from their use of public transport.”
54 | rail technology magazine Feb/Mar 11
Norman Baker, Transport Minister
White Paper wants less paper
Transport minister Norman Baker released a White Paper on January 19, ‘Creating growth, cutting carbon: Making sustain- able transport happen’, that included a commitment to get most public transport journeys using smart ticketing instead of paper by December 2014.
That is both a sign of the Government’s confidence that the new technologies are ripe for mass roll-out, but also a big chal- lenge for operators and ITSO.
Leach said: “As a user of public transport; that is definitely the right way to go. It is what I was hoping for and was pleased when it came out.
“As the chief executive of ITSO; it’s the right challenge. ITSO spent a long time in its infancy and now needs to mature very rapidly into a stable, well-used, easily-un- derstood, cost-effective solution if it’s go- ing to support the minister’s vision.
“Sometimes it takes somebody making that kind of bold announcement to make the difference, but we must recognise that if you take out concessionary bus travel, less than 1% of all commercial ticketing
“Most rail franchises in the country know very little about their customers. Smart ticketing offers the opportunity for the first time to build that relationship with the customer.”
“Smart ticketing through ITSO has to be one of a range of ways to get people to use public transport more effectively. The big- gest part of that for both of them is getting ITSO working in London; the ‘ITSO on Prestige’ project.
“Prestige is the original name for the TfL ticketing estate, including all the main line stations. Getting ITSO enabled on those stations and throughout the TfL estate will, for the first time, allow season ticket holders or through London travellers to come into London with their entire jour- ney on a smart card, or a smart phone or any number of combinations of those.
“That’s what they need to achieve and we need to help them with that.”
Contactless bank cards
The Oyster card is not the only game in town in London, as TfL proved with a re- cent announcement on making the capi- tal the first city in the world whose entire transport network will be accessible by contactless bank card or credit card. By the end of 2012, card readers across the Tube, DLR, bus, tram and Overground networks will have been upgraded to allow it.
Leach said: “It’s interesting; there are a number of people who will absolutely benefit from doing that. My view is that we need to provide choice to get people to use public transport. What drives me personally is not a particular technology; I want more people using public transport,
outside of London uses smart ticketing. That’s a very small number.
“It’s effectively going to require a leap, outside London, from 1% to 50% in three years. We are expecting to be closer to 10% by the end of this calendar year. It’s achievable, but it’s going to require some very fast and effective work from us and the operators to achieve.”
Image of passengers heading through ticket gates at Snow Hill station, Birmingham
Since 2007, all newly-let rail franchises have included the requirement to move to- wards ITSO-compliant ticketing schemes. Schemes are underway with Go-Ahead, through London Midland, and with Stagecoach through South West Trains.
Leach had praise for the attitudes of both, saying: “Go-Ahead and Stagecoach are two of the pioneers when it comes to smart ticketing using ITSO. They will build up their own plans on how they will use it to differentiate themselves from the market, and also to make sure they are providing a service to their customers.
Image by Alex Folkes for Liberal Democrats
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