01516434

Component

Some American transit agencies are deploying new fare payment systems, including open payments and mobile payments. Other transit authorities want to understand how and why these agencies are implementing new fare collection systems. Therefore, the objective of this study is to conduct an exploratory analysis of agencies deploying new fare payment systems. The method used to conduct this research is detailed case studies, which are compiled by reviewing documentation and conducting interviews with transit agency staff in three cities: Chicago, Philadelphia, and Portland. Each case study is evaluated on seven dimensions: current fare collection system, rationale for the new system, technology selection, benefits of the new technology, costs, contract structure, and other noteworthy elements. The results of this qualitative analysis reveal that the primary reasons for deploying new systems are increased customer convenience, replacement of aging equipment, and potential reductions in fare collection costs. The new technology selection is influenced by the existing fare collection system; specifically, the barrier-free system is deploying mobile payments, whereas the two gated systems are implementing open payments. In terms of contract structure, two of the agencies utilized innovative financing strategies in which the transit agency does not expend significant upfront costs but ties third party payment to service fees associated with transactions on the transit system. The case studies suggest that these two new types of fare collection will converge to an open-standards based model with acceptance of near field communications (NFC)-enabled devices, once these devices are more commonly used for payments.

This paper was sponsored by TRB committee AP025 Public Transportation Planning and Development.

01503729

14-0667

English

18p

2014

Transportation Research Board 93rd Annual Meeting

Digital/other

References; Tables

Case studies; Fare collection; Fare prepayment; Financing; Payment; Public transit; Technology

Chicago (Illinois); Philadelphia (Pennsylvania); Portland (Oregon)

Finance; Public Transportation; I10: Economics and Administration

Transportation Research Board Annual Meeting 2014 Paper #14-0667

TRIS, TRB, ATRI

Jan 27 2014 2:18PM