Los Angeles fare collection upgrade mobile app and account-based

Los Angeles fare collection upgrade mobile app and account-based

LA Metro has been very creative and aggressive. After a couple of years in development, Los Angeles Metro’s new TAP wristbands are now available for transit riders, agency officials announced Monday. A limited number of them, dubbed TAP Flex, are being sold.

Furthermore, a $22m contract to upgrade its automatic fare collection system.

The TAP smart card, used across 25 regional transport agencies in the area, will be upgraded over the next 18 months. In addition to a mobile app, Cubic is to develop a cloud-based account. Branded TAPforce, this would enable no only smart card top-up, but also payment for other services being developed by Metro, such as bicycle sharing and parking.

In the longer term, the aim is to introduce mobile ticketing for NFC-enabled devices.

Conclusion

LA Metro is heading the right way to offer more services for the vertical market rather than investing in account-based ticketing and giveaway the business to Visa, Mastercard, Apple Pay,..

Moving to mobile ticketing will give ultimate convenience for the public as there aren’t people with no smartphones today.

Learn more about the latest mobile payment technology for public transit, please visit mobileafc.net

SF Bay Area’s MTC to deliver next-generation fare payment technology and operational services to the Clipper

Source from finextra.com

Clipper currently links 22 regional transit operators and facilitates more than 825,000 journeys per weekday across bus, rail, subway and ferry services, operated by Cubic since 2009

Last year, a $349 million contract promised to deliver a range of new features.

The new system will be rolled out in phases over a five-year period transitioning into a ten-year full operations term commencing in 2022.

Mobile App-based

An integrated mobile app that will enable customers to access real-time information, reload their accounts, plan trips and tap their phones as virtual Clipper cards through fare gates and on buses in much the same way.

The major benefit will be user-friendly and a one-stop service from the mobile App.

Account-based

Online fare purchases will be made immediately available for use and an account-based architecture coupled with an open API portal will facilitate creative partnerships and systems extensions.

The benefit will open up more applications for the convenience or benefit to the passengers or users.

The drawback is that the taxpayer will have to absorb the initial huge investment and also giveaway the local profitable business to Visa, Mastercard, Apple pay,…

Conclusion

The plan has not clearly stated that mobile communication technologies to be used. Will it be still using existing NFC and maybe QR code-based technologies?

This is a critical step toward a truly smart city in which people don’t have to carry any more cards.

The author has 18 years of experience in the related industry. To learn more about the new technology of mobile payment for automated fare collection, please visit mobileafc.net

New York City public transportation fare collection system lags behind third world countries.

New York City public transportation fare collection system lags behind third world countries.

Hillary Clinton, who had to swipe 5 times in a row to enter the subway in New York City during her presidential campaign in 2016.

MetroCard System

One of the greatest symbols of the outdated system is the MetroCard — the flimsy fare card that was introduced a quarter-century ago.

Plans to replace the MetroCard over the last decade have been mired in delays — and costs have soared — even as other cities adopted more durable tap cards. Washington’s subway introduced its SmarTrip card two decades ago, and Hong Kong has the Octopus card 30 years ago.

OMNY System

OMNY is being put in place by Cubic, a payments company behind the MetroCard and that oversaw London’s fare system. The project is expected to cost about $644 million — $200 million more than what the authority estimated in 2016.

The agency will offer a physical OMNY card in 2021, and the MetroCard will meet its demise in 2023. Subway officials say there will always be a cash option for New Yorkers who do not have bank cards or smartphones.

The idea has progressed in fits and starts. A decade ago, the authority’s chairman, Jay Walder, had wanted to bring “tap-and-go” cards to New York after he implemented the Oyster card in London. Officials wanted to phase out the MetroCard as early as 2012, but it did not happen, in part because credit card companies were slow to make their cards compatible.

The conclusion

New York City does not learn the financial model which Hong Kong adopted more than 30 years ago and the Octopus Card in Hong Kong is the most success cashless payment from public transportation to the retail market.

It is very important to understand the relationship among all stakeholders in the automatic fare collection system. It is so obvious that the biggest winner for the new OMNY system is the credit card issuers because they will earn the transaction fee without investment and the biggest loser is the New York City government who has to pay US$ 644 million without any financial benefits at all.

The writer has over 19 years of experience in the related industry. To learn more about the latest mobile technology for automatic fare collection system, please visit http://mobileafc.net