By Sarah Clark
Swedish regional public transportation provider Hallandstrafiken is to pilot a mobile pay-as-you-go ticketing service that replaces the need for passengers to tap on and off during a journey with a simple swipe on their ticketing app.
The pilot will be conducted using an app supplied by Swiss provider Fairtiq. This will enable passengers to travel seamlessly on all scheduled services in the region “without the hassle of figuring out which ticket to buy — even when travelling as a family or group of friends”.
“Passengers download the app, start it with one swipe before entering the means of transport and receive a valid ticket without having to enter their destination,” Fairtiq explains.
“When changing trains or buses, the app automatically recognises the change and continues to monitor the journey.
“When the passenger arrives at the destination, they simply swipe to end the journey. If they forget, the app sends a notification or automatically ends the journey. The best available fare is then automatically calculated and optimised on a daily basis.”
Fairtiq’s technology is already in use in eight countries — Austria, Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, Liechtenstein and Switzerland. Hallandstrafiken is the first to make use of it in Sweden.
“In the pilot, we are placing special emphasis on user-friendliness while also testing a new pricing model for single tickets,” Hallandstrafiken says. “The goal is to investigate how the solution is received by our customers and whether it can contribute to our business goals: increased travel and higher customer satisfaction.
“By testing on a smaller scale, we gain valuable insights — both from our customers and from customer-facing staff, the business and other stakeholders. Once the pilot project is evaluated, we will know if this is a sustainable solution for the future.
“We plan to implement the pilot later this year, likely after the summer, and we will return with information on how our customers have the opportunity to participate.”
