Tip Sheet: Groundbreaking Open-Loop Procurement in Venice May Finally Launch in Spring
An official with Venice transit agency AVM said the agency plans to launch its delayed open-loop service in the tourist mecca on May 1, which would be one year later than originally planned, Mobility Payments has learned.
The project is noteworthy because the procurement is designed to be completely capex-free, with
From Guru to Poster Child for MaaS’ Failures, Whim App Founder Calls it Quits
Sampo Hietanen, founder and CEO of high-profile mobility-as-a-service start-up MaaS Global this evening issued some of first comments since his company filed for bankruptcy yesterday, lamenting, “Nothing breaks like a dream.”
Hietanen, considered a guru of the technology early on during his eight-year run as head of the Finnish start-up, later became the poster child for MaaS’ disappointing start.
Worldline COO: Open Loop as ‘Revolution’ is Oversold; Urges Truly Revolutionary Thinking on Payments, Fare Models
James Bain, COO of global mobility transactional services for Worldline, a major European processor and acquirer–in a striking acknowledgement–said that payments companies have overpromised and oversold the benefits of open-loop technology to transit agencies.
Bain, in a speech at the Transport Ticketing Global conference in London last week, titled, “Do we honestly believe the ‘open payments’ revolution is here?”
CEO of Thales Fare Unit: Expect ‘Continuity’ of Operations When Hitachi Takes Over
The head of fare-systems supplier Thales RCS confirmed that there will be a “continuity” of operations for the vendor after Hitachi Rail completes its acquisition of Thales Ground Transportation Systems, of which RCS is a part.
Jean-Marc Reynaud, CEO of Thales Revenue Collection Systems, told Mobility Payments that the €1.7 billion
Tip Sheet: Vix Chief Ross Dismisses Talk of Merger with Kuba
Vix Technology CEO Aaron Ross told Mobility Payments that even though he will continue to head up both Vix and Kuba and that the two fare vendors share a private equity owner and have a close working relationship, there are no plans for the companies to merge.
That echoes comments last month from Ross’ boss, Steve Gallagher, chairman of both Vix and private
Denmark’s Much-Anticipated Mobile-Ticketing App Will Launch as Pilot This Year before Backers Seek to Scale It Up
Danish fare-collection company Rejsekort & Rejseplan, or RKRP, plans to launch a pilot of its high-profile nationwide mobile-ticketing service sometime in 2024 and will offer open-loop payments to customers who cannot or will not use the new mobile service, RKRP CEO Kasper Schmidt said Wednesday.
Schmidt told Mobility Payments he could not say exactly when his company’s pay-as-you-go mobile-
Tip Sheet: Transport for London Criticizes Payments Industry for Rising Fees and Higher Fraud Losses
Complaining of rising transaction fees and higher fraud, Transport or London today suggested that actions by banks and payments schemes threatened to kill the “golden goose” of contactless fare payments for the agency.
Andrew Anderson, the agency’s head of customer payments, used his annual presentation at the
U.S. Agency Approves Sole-Source Contract for Cubic, Asserting It Would Save 30% by Avoiding Competitive Procurement
Officials in the U.S. state of Minnesota, as expected, gave final approval this week to a $37.7 million sole-source contract for incumbent supplier Cubic Transportation Systems to upgrade the Minneapolis-St. Paul fare system to offer open-loop payments, account-based ticketing and fare capping.
But while staffers with the agency–Metro Transit–said it would save an estimated 30% on costs by hiring
‘It was Theirs to Lose’: A Look at Cubic’s Surprising Loss of Key U.S. Fare Project after Tight Competition with INIT
Large fare-system supplier Cubic Transportation Systems was ahead on points over second-ranked vendor INIT after the first round of competition last summer for a contract to provide the Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority with a completely new fare system, records obtained by Mobility Payments show.
MARTA short-listed the two vendors, then Cubic and INIT did their oral presentations in front of
New Zealand’s Nationwide Open-Loop Project Running Late; Can Organizers Get It Back on Track?
New Zealand’s much-anticipated nationwide open-loop fare system is believed to be running beyond schedule, with officials unlikely to hit project deadlines, including any substantive initial launch this year, Mobility Payments has learned.
The project, known as the National Ticketing Solution, or NTS, is beset by challenges. Most notably,