Exclusive: Share of Contactless Rides Paid for with Apple Pay and other Pays Wallets in Manchester More than Doubles in Two Years
Transport for Greater Manchester in the UK is the latest transit agency seeing substantial growth of contactless open-loop fare payments from NFC mobile wallets–with the percentage of its contactless tram trips paid for with Apple Pay, Google Pay and other Pays services more than doubling over the past two years, Mobility Payments has learned.
U.S. Transit Agency Introduces Scanning of Mobile Tickets, but Overall Move to Electronic Payments Progressing Slowly
Most mid-tier transit agencies in the U.S., like the Southwest Ohio Regional Transit Authority, or SORTA, in Cincinnati, still have to deal with high usage of cash and paper tickets on board their buses and other transit vehicles, even as the continuing pandemic increases pressure on them to move to more electronic forms of fare payments.
In-Depth: Contactless Transactions Soar, but Transport for London Affirms that Oyster Will Remain Payments Option
Contactless open-loop payments have surged in recent months for Transport for London, returning to their steep growth trajectory before the pandemic, and now account for 70% of all pay-as-you-go, or PAYG, trips on the London Underground and two-thirds of PAYG trips on buses. And contactless has surpassed 50% of all trips–including those made with season tickets (see new chart below).
Debate: Is the Industry–and Technology–Ready for Hands-Free, Be-In/Be-Out Fare Payments?
It’s no secret that interest is growing in “touchless transit” in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic. So technologies that enable fully hands-free fare payments, letting passengers be-in/be-out, or BIBO, are getting a serious look–as transit agencies seek to let more customers bring their own fare media and minimize passenger interaction with agency staff.
Panel: Closed-Loop Payments Expected to Remain an Option for Years to Come Despite Growth of Open Loop
While the trend today is for more transit agencies to introduce open-loop fare payments, closed-loop cards, either in physical form or dematerialized on smartphones and wearables, will be with us for many years to come–though perhaps in a reduced role. That’s according to a recent panel discussion at the Mobility Payments Asia Pacific 2021 conference.
‘No Way We were Going to Ask for Half a Billion Dollars…’
Unlike other major transit agencies in the U.S., which have spent hundreds of millions of dollars replacing or upgrading their fare-collection systems, the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority has taken a different approach.
Masabi Seeks to Expand Beyond Mobile Ticketing and to Sign Up Large Agencies, Stoking More Competition with Suppliers Like Cubic
UK-based software-as-a-service ticketing provider Masabi said it is targeting large transit agencies in the U.S. and beyond, seeking to sell the agencies on plugging into its SaaS platform rather than building what Masabi contends are expensive and often protracted bespoke fare-collection systems, the vendor told Mobility Payments.
Cubic’s MaaS Point Man: Control of MaaS Apps by VC-Funded Start-Ups Coming to an End; Whim App Chief: Not So Fast
Andy Taylor, senior director, global strategy for Cubic Transportation Systems contended that the MaaS market is at a crossroads and could fail if it doesn’t change course, including putting cities and public agencies firmly in the “driving seat” of MaaS apps.
Moscow Metro Launches Test of Facial Recognition Fare Payments Ahead of Rollout; Agency Says Masks Can Slow Verification
Moscow Metro announced that it is officially testing facial recognition-based fare payments at turnstiles, with plans to roll out the technology by the end of the year.
Case Study: Ohio Transit Agency Nears Goal of Ridding Vehicles of Cash
(Updated case study): The chief customer and business development officer for the Greater Dayton Regional Transit Authority in the U.S. told Mobility Payments that a phased approach in rolling out electronic payments and quick customer adoption has enabled the agency to get close to its goal of eliminating cash on board its vehicles.