Ticket to (sustainable) ride: how the transport sector is enhancing Smart Ticketing

The digital integration of transport modes enabled by Mobility as a Service (MaaS) has proven a vital solution for a greener transport sector.

Seamless, door-to-door mobility starts with planning the journey and allows free choice and safe payment options to the traveller. Ticketing is no longer a simple part of the public transport experience; it an essential part of a broader mobility solution and the gateway to freedom for all to move about.

New UITP/STA Working Group on Ticketing in MaaS

Recognising the need to enhance and harmonise the Smart Ticketing ecosystem in Europe, UITP co-founded in 2015 the Smart Ticketing Alliance (STA), a non-profit association that promotes cooperation between national and regional Smart Ticketing schemes to establish interoperable “Smart Ticketing” in Europe and elsewhere.

Now, the STA and UITP are delighted to announce they have launched a new Working Group on Ticketing in MaaS.

Already gathering over 40 members, the Working Group brings around the table stakeholders from the entire transport sector to work on knowledge and recommendations/roadmaps for Ticketing in MaaS: How can ticketing be an enabler in breaking down walls between mobility silos as they exist now? What is key for the key stakeholders, the customer, and their experience? How are Payment and Ticketing related?

These (and many more!) questions will be answered by counting on a unique collaboration by players from the entire mobility value chain and producing comprehensive knowledge on a topic that is essential to enhance passengers experience and thus our sector as a whole.

Are you a member of either UITP or STA and interested in joining the Working Group? Please contact Guido Di Pasquale.

Closed-loop vs open-loop, card-centric vs system-centric, account-based ticketing, open payments, SIM-centric mobile ticketing, NFC, HCE, Secure Element, beacons, QR codes… If you are feeling a lost with these terms, not to worry.

UITP recently published its report ‘Demystifying ticketing and payment in public transport’, diving deep into the murky waters of ticketing and payment (now also available in Spanish!). We give readers the opportunity to understand the current landscape of ticketing and payments, the different technologies and solutions on the market, and to look ahead to relevant emerging trends in the mobility sector.

Read the report here.