Today, travelers are personalizing their transportation experiences, choosing their modes based on convenience. For transit agencies, the shift towards Mobility as a Service (MaaS) means dynamic partnerships, innovative ticketing options and openly shared data for the perpetration of real-time information to customers. This means the mobility chain must be integrated and connected so passengers can plan and pay — preferably from one platform.
Planning MaaS
To do this, one of the key elements to consider is reliable and accurate planning data. The way to make data dynamic is by using the CAD/AVL system to share operational changes in real-time with riders. In complex environments with multiple agencies in a multi-city region, the specific actions of individual operation control centers must be included in the general data stream being shared with customers.
When dynamic ticketing is added into the mix, there are additional challenges to an already complex system that must be well-thought-out. For instance, features like best price calculations or fare capping. Then, in the case of a travel planner, providing passengers with the greenest, driest (due to weather) or fastest journey so they can choose the trip that best meets their requirements.
New MaaS Data Concepts – GTFS Flex
There is global discussion on the design of MaaS data concepts. Where General Transit Specification Feed (GTFS) allowed authorities to consider traffic and construction information, GTFS-Flex holds promise for the sharing of not only traffic info, but also fare information and fare rules. A good example of this in the private sector is a disruption in the air system. When a flight is cancelled, there are rules and regulations that allow a carrier to hand passengers over to another airline. This way, they can use their ticket because of established rules shared between the airlines. This is essentially the idea behind MaaS.
Six municipalities. One regional system.
In a small region in Finland, the city of Turku, along with five other municipalities joined together to create a new brand for regional public transport called Föli. The legacy fare system used smart cards with payments strapped to the card. The travel area had many “zones” and municipalities using different fares. Third party mobility services were not integrated in the transportation ecosystem.
The goal of the municipalities for the new Föli system was an account-based fare and mobility structure with one zone and a flat rate for travel across the entire region. The system had to be built with a flexible, open, and expandable architecture so operators could add new features or partners to further enhance the system going forward. In turn, the system had to be easy for passengers to understand and use.
- 6 municipalities
- 285,000 inhabitants
- 27 mil. trips annually
- 260 buses
- 300,000 cards
Migrating from card-based to account-based ticketing
The city of Turku decided to keep and use their original Föli card, so INIT was contracted to convert and migrate the existing card-based system to an account-based system. At an agreed upon point, the cash that was on the legacy cards was moved to the account-based scheme via the INIT back-office system. Mobile ticketing and top ups were added, and real-time transactions were being performed. The migration process was handled in a way that passengers barely noticed that the system had changed.
The next stage was to integrate mobile payments, open payments (EMV) and Finland’s national travel card called Waltti.
Once the payment options were active, the next step included the add-in of all the non-public transit regional transportation providers. These included car share and bike share partners, taxis and ferries. INIT used open APIs to link together all the elements for a unified regional, multi-modal transportation network.
MaaS through account-based ticketing
The final element was the integration of the travel planner to aggregate all transportation services and ticket payments into a single application. This MaaS component provides passengers with an app for planning their travel around the region and an account-based fare structure for fare payments.
One of the key tasks of implementing the unified Föli system was the requirement of operators and partners to provide their own unique branding and personalized customer interfaces. INIT provided a web gateway that allows data to be consumed and shared between various parties in the system with branding entirely in their own design. That was vitally important in terms of consistency and quality, so passengers could trust and rely on the system.
Positive Customer Adoption
The implementation of the new Föli system was voted for through a regional survey. Like many transit authorities, the Föli agencies extensively surveyed their customers to measure satisfaction with the new system. All the results showed increasing value in the system as well as high passenger satisfaction in using a system that is straightforward and easy to understand. It was proven to be the most popular project that the local authorities had ever launched.
Author: Ann Derby, Director, Marketing & Events | INIT, Innovations in Transportation Inc.
