Below is the uncorrected machine-read text of this chapter, intended to provide our own search engines and external engines with highly rich, chapter-representative searchable text of each book. Because it is UNCORRECTED material, please consider the following text as a useful but insufficient proxy for the authoritative book pages.
5 Electronic fare payment systems have had a transformative impact on transit services in the United States. The advent of these fare systems in the 1990s by the New York City Transit agency (NYCT), Washington (DC) Metro Area Transit Authority (WMATA), and the Chicago Transit Authority (CTA), among others, enabled better data collection, integrated fare solutions, customer conveniences, and other benefits over the transit token or ticket which they replaced. Since early 2000, multiagency electronic fare payment systems (EFPS), such as SmarTrip in the Washington Metro area, have been adopted by groups of transit operators of multiple modes such as bus, heavy rail, bus rapid transit, commuter rail, and light rail. Multiagency EFPS provide customers with a single payment instrument that can be used across a region and on services offered by several providers. More recently, emerging fare payment technologies using mobile devices and third-party media are gaining acceptance. Some of the new systems will accept standard contactless media (credit cards or mobile wallets) as payment at the point of entry to transit service. PROJECT OBJECTIVE Approaches to implementing multiagency EFPS are far from consistent in the United States. This synthesis describes the state of the practice and use of multiagency EFPS in multimodal, multiagency environments. The report considers next-generation approaches through case examples and explores the choices made by agencies to overcome challenges, as well as the rewards and benefits achieved in adopting their method. The synthesis documents current practice from deployed EFPS, including: ⢠Challenges of governance and program administration policies; ⢠Multiagency procurement approaches; ⢠Benefits achieved from integrated multiagency EFPS; ⢠Uses and analysis of fare collection data; and ⢠Experience with adopting account-based systems and integrating with non-traditional mobility partners. PROJECT METHODOLOGY To gather information on multiagency EFPS, synthesis authors conducted a literature review; a survey of leading multiagency EFPS agencies and organizations; and interviews with multiagency EFPS staff for case examples. The synthesis does not separate the results of these three study methods into separate chapters. The survey responses are interspersed with information from the literature review and, when appropriate, with interviews with staff responsible for multiagency EFPS operations, planning or design. Literature Review In many ways, this work is an update and confirmation of trends that were reported in previous TCRP studies on fare payment systems (see the list of related TCRP studies sidebar in chapter two). This chapter one INTRODUCTION
6 work differs from previous studies in that it describes the state of the practice on multimodal and multiagency implementations of regional fare payment systems. The literature review was challenging because there are new and emerging payment technologies not only for transit but for the way consumers pay for all goods and services. New mobility payment models, such as mobile wallets accessed by smart phones using near field communications (NFC), wearables, and biometrics, impact how traveler services are sold, accessed, and delivered. Every week, articles on innovative programs were published of transit agencies deploying mobile wallets, transit fare apps, or integrating their services with third-party mobility providers. Industry Survey In the United States and Canada, there are only a few regions that have deployed electronic fare payment systems that support regional multimodal systems or multiagency EFPS. Of the 40 deployed electronic fare payment systems, only 27 are considered multimodal or multiagency. The survey was sent to these multiagency systems, with 23 (85%) of the organizations responding. A list of the responding organizations is available in Appendix B. The survey addressed the following areas: ⢠Characteristics of system; ⢠Relationship with partner organizations (governance); ⢠Payment policy integration; ⢠Procurement strategy; ⢠Deployment strategy; ⢠Data reporting, analytics, and visualization; and ⢠Return on investment/Post-implementation analysis. The survey questionnaire and responses are included in Appendix A. Case Examples Several case examples are included in this synthesis. Some of the multiagency EFPS have been deployed for over a decade, while several are moving toward a second-generation deployment. These mature systems offer important lessons and guidance for current implementations and systems that are still in development. WMATA, the first regional agency in the country to introduce a smart card, has more than 16 yearsâ experience in managing its fare data. Its experience has been interwoven into chapter seven, Fare Data Management and Reporting. At the same time, news reports are filled with technology innovations, emerging integration expe- riences, and new business models that are changing the multiagency EFPS landscape. Integrating these new technologies and models is mainly achieved using account-based architecture, particularly among the second-generation systems (such as Chicagoâs CTA), including mobile fare payment, open payment, and integration with non-traditional mobility providers (convergent payment systems). These case examples are covered in chapter six, Account-Based Systems. REPORT ORGANIZATION The report is organized into eight chapters. Chapter one: Introduction includes the report objective, scope, technical approach, and report organization. Chapter two: Industry Overview provides a history of smart card and mobile fare payment deploy- ment, trends, benefits and business cases from the literature. The chapter also describes the general characteristics of the survey respondents. Chapter three: Overview of Business and Governance Models describes the relationship among partner organizations, challenges and opportunities.
7 Chapter four: Integrated Fare Policies and Sales in a Multimodal Environment provides insight into modes, fare products, media, and integration strategies used by multiagency EFPS. The chapter summarizes the literature and survey responses, and discusses sales channels deployed by survey respondents to sell media and products. Chapter five: Procurement and Deployment Strategies describes different models and configura- tions used by multiagency EFPS. The chapter discusses strengths and weaknesses of different approaches based on literature review and survey responses. Chapter six: Account-Based Systems provides details on the opportunities and challenges of account-based systems, including mobile fare payment, open payment, and integration with non-traditional mobility providers (convergent payment strategies). The chapter provides a review of the literature, survey responses. and detailed interviews with several organizations that have deployed or are in the process of deploying different services supported by account- based architecture. Chapter seven: Fare Data Management and Reporting describes how organizations are exploit- ing their data to realize analytic and performance benefits. The chapter provides examples of reports, charts, and visualizations of fare data, and operational data integrated with fare data. The chapter reviews reports and open data published by agencies, in addition to describing their data management and integration practices and the types of visualizations they perform using their integrated data sets. Chapter eight: Conclusions and Suggestions for Further Research summarizes the obstacles and opportunities experienced in the deployment of multiagency EFPS over the 26 years since its introduction. The chapter also looks at the next generation of fare systems and what further research may illuminate how transit agencies and regional organizations can adopt new tech- nologies and models in the future.