nears full coverage
financial operating system adopted by Rejsekort A/S. The report’s authors argued that the system made it impossible to budget and create meaningful reports, and suggested that Rejsekort A/S adopt a new system that would ensure sufficient data is available for analysis where required. It was subsequently recognised, however, that Rejsekort A/S had taken steps to ensure proper accounting.
Critics of Rejsekort also argue that it is not easy to distinguish between check-in and check-out terminals, and also point out that last year nearly 200,000 journeys were not completed with correct check-out of the system, although Rejsekort A/S says this reflects the fact that many passengers were initially unfamiliar with the process and the number of failures is declining as usage becomes more widespread.
Mogensen says the technical aspects of the project were not the most challenging parts of its implementation. “Because it is a common system there is a large-scale change of customer usage behaviour and customer support processes that you have to be ready for,” says Mogensen. “There is a lot of emphasis on self-service, and already 85% of top-up transactions are made this way, because we’ve taken the time to make it work correctly. This is a big change and it was a steep learning curve. Staff have to learn new ways of
helping customers because the system is completely different.” Despite the early problems encountered by Rejsekort, the system now covers all train services, with machines and card readers installed at 447 stations nationwide, as well as the Copenhagen S-Train and Metro networks. The card is also valid on around two-thirds of buses and according to Morgensen, the rollout across the remainder of the bus network will be completed by 2015. By the time the system is fully operational, it is expected that 2-3 million cards will be in circulation, around half of them held by regular users.
Positive reaction Mogensen stresses that the public
reaction to Rejsekort has been largely positive. “Transition is a big change for customers, but generally the public has embraced the card,” he says. In a survey of passengers carried out last December, 84% of respondents said the card was a very good idea, while 77% would recommend the card to other people and 70% have already done so. The survey also revealed that 79% of Rejsekort users have opted for the personal card, while 15% carry the flexible card and 6% use the anonymous card.
Last year the system recorded 3.4 million trips with annual turnover DKr
7.5bn, and there are currently around 300,000 active Rejsekorts in circulation. According to Mogensen around 40% of cards are used every week.
One of the objectives of the Rejsekort
project was to make public transport more attractive by improving the flexibility and convenience of travel and rewarding regular use. “I think it’s too early to say at this stage what the impact of the system will be, but the early indicators are that it does encourage greater public transport usage,” says Mogensen. “If we only see a 5% increase in public transport use because of Rejsekort it would be a fantastic outcome.”
Like the Netherlands, Denmark demonstrates that there is no easy way to implement a national public transport smartcard. With numerous stakeholders from the government, transport authorities, and the operators to users groups and individual passengers, the risks are varied and often complex, particularly where multiple fares systems are involved. Unfamiliar technology naturally
breeds suspicion, especially in situations where the traditional alternative is being withdrawn, and passengers need reassurance from an early stage in the process that the system will be transparent and their journey will not be more expensive. Nonetheless, by completing the transition to Rejsekort, Denmark will become a pioneer in national smartcards, offering valuable experience to other countries that are now contemplating similar technologies. IRJ
info@vtg.com •
www.vtg.com
VTG at the exhibition ”transport logistic” in Munich from June 4 - 7, 2013
Wagon Hire c Tank Container Logistics IRJ May 2013 37
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