From popular media and political comment, it sometimes seems that fare levels are a really critical issue for public transport, but in fact the role of detailed pricing policies and the wider funding equation are arguably far more important in delivering what users want and growing the market. Analysis of demand elasticity for metro networks worldwide (Anderson, 2011) actually shows that demand is more sensitive to change in level of service than to change in price. It shows, in particular, th

According to National Rail’s Journey Planner, a simple trip in the Greater London area from Watford Junction to Woking requires two mainline trains and an Underground ride. First, there is a Midland Mainline (or London Overground)train to London Euston, followed by a transfer to London Underground’s Northern Line to Waterloo, followed by a second transfer at Waterloo to a Southwest Trains service to Woking. This journey requires coordinating three train schedules, passing through up

Though Paris and London have attracted attention by developing their regional heavy rail networks to supplement existing tube/metro lines through new cross-city tunnels, they are not the only cities who have taken their city railways beyond the traditional model of large stations at surface level. Elsewhere in Europe Vienna is replacing its South terminal station with a new central Hauptbahnhof station which will link together the routes which converge on Vienna, including international servic

If it were not already a trademark, French state railway operator SNCF must have been tempted to call their latest TGV service “easyTGV” so closely does it mirror many of the practices of low-cost airlines. Instead, “TGV Ouigo” is the chosen name for a new product that is planned to make high speed train travel cheaper for for SNCF to operate as well as for passengers. Services started between Paris and Marseille/Montpellier in early April. Four TGV units have been fully

Global technology analyst ABI Research is predicting that 2.1bn contactless ‘credentials’ – a combination of smartcards and radio frequency identification (RFID) solutions – will have entered the transport and ticketing market in 2018. The forecast figure is just over double that achieved in 2012. Last year, MiFare solutions, using technology owned by Netherlands-headquartered NXP Semiconductors, continued to account for the bulk of the market with a share of just over 8

The Opal smartcard system for public transport currently being installed in Sydney by the Cubic-led Pearl consortium for regional agency Transport New South Wales (NSW), is being claimed as the world’s geographically largest to date, covering the whole of the 40,000km2 Greater Sydney area. Being trialled initially on harbour ferries, it will roll out on CityRail services during 2013-14 and, by end-2015, is due to be operational at more than 300 train stations and on 5,000 buses. Transpor

Across the transport sector there are certain individuals whose activities stand out either as beyond the significance of their own specific role within an organisation, or for introducing new ideas from an inventive technological or entrepreneurial standpoint. In an era of rapid change to the way transport services are managed, marketed and paid for it is not surprising that a group of such people feature amongst our power list. Elaine Rosscraig, Stagecoach’s head of bus customer insigh

UK transport is heavily influenced, as elsewhere, by political leaders. Transport problems and challenges exist at both a national and local level and it is Boris Johnson Mayor of London who New Transit believes has continued to be most significant in his interventions in transport over the past year and hence included in our top dozen power people. He faced an election last year against his old adversary Ken Livingstone, which he narrowly won, and then gained the reflected glory of both the Oly

London bus users now have an alternative to topping up their Oyster card or having the right change with the introduction of MasterCard PayPass technology using contactless bank cards. From December, they have been able to pay with a contactless MasterCard or Maestro card, charged the same fare as Oyster for pay-as-you-go tickets, rather than the more expensive cash fare. Marion King who heads MasterCard’s UK & Ireland operation said, “travellers can now pay for their travel usi

It’s a public transport practitioner’s dream experiment: what would happen if a city made its public transport completely free, permanently? The Estonian capital Tallinn is finding out, because as of New Year’s Day, that is exactly what it has done. The city’s local authority says the move will “safeguard social cohesion of local communities by granting equal mobility opportunities to all social strata.” It is hoped that car drivers will find it an incentive

When I was invited to speak at this year’s Travel 2020 event, I was aware that the passenger transport industry views my world of ‘Revenue Management’ with some interest to see possible future applications to their industry but coupled with quite a lot of perplexity and suspicion. What are these ‘dark arts’ used by the hotel and airline worlds to optimise yields on their capacity offers, and take different rates for the same products off different customers? What&

Cubic Transportation Systems has won the 2012 SESAMES Award in the trusted internet/ authentication category at the November 2012 CARTES exhibition and conference in Paris. A joint submission by Cubic and NXP Semiconductors, the solution is designed to ensure the secure use of personal mobile phones to top-up contactless transit fare cards. It qualified for the award on the grounds of its integration of authentication and encryption technologies, use of wireless mobile networks, Cubic’s

Rail Plus Australasia has launched a new Europe-wide business class rail booking tool. Aimed at encouraging wider take-up of expanding European high-speed rail services, it offers corporate travellers access to a choice of fares negotiated directly with individual carriers. Chief executive David Stafford said  that Paris-London by Eurostar was by far the largest point-to-point seller in the Australian market. “Rail has 88% of the market and business travellers are catching on fast in

Over 6000 Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority commuters downloaded a new mobile ticketing app to Android and iPhone smartphones in the first week of availability.  Developed by UK mobile payment specialist company Masabi, the app – introduced as a cost-effective alternative to installing additional ticket vending machines - is currently being offered to passengers using lines starting from Boston’s North Station on the area’s T zoned commuter rail system. The trave

There were lively debates  on the future of smart ticketing and payment at two key sessions in the Travel 2020 conference. Transport Minister Norman Baker, and Jenni Borg, his senior civil servant responsible for the topic, both came under pressure to move away from current commitments to a single smartcard technology solution and embrace new options for the EMV bank card and mobile phone payments already being implemented within TfL and some train and bus operators. The first indications

Train operator First Capital Connect has introduced a cashless payment service for taxis picking up passengers at its stations in the south-east of England. The roll-out of the new payment arrangements started in June. The Dash cashless technology, including a mobile phone app, has been developed and delivered by Adaptis Solutions, a provider of transport payment platforms for parking, permits, buses, boats and trains. Manni Marway, chief executive of Adaptis Solutions, said: “There is g

W hat makes a great city – or more to the point, a great city to live and work in, enjoy, travel around easily and feel good about being in. And, from the perspective of those of us working in the mobility field, what kind of transport system helps deliver such a place? Rankings abound declaring which are the best cities in the world to live in, for example, the HR consultancy firm Mercer puts out an annual Quality of Living Survey, and the Economist Intelligence Unit produces both the Gl

M ost public transit users in urban areas do not just take individual bus and rail services. They use “the system.” And that means alighting from a metro or rail station and connecting to a bus to complete a journey, or vice versa. It’s a regular activity but not always easy. How many cities make this process logical, convenient and user-friendly with wayfinding signage from the station exit directing people to the bus stop, with appropriate maps and supporting information to

The transport world is changing and we need to respond to that by creating a new business model, particularly in the bus sector. Essentially, we need to look afresh at how we market our services and develop new sales channels, payment methods and personalised marketing techniques. Go-Ahead believe in a strongly devolved management model for our individual bus companies, with marketing plans developed locally and best practice shared across the group where appropriate. The industry needs to mak

There’s a generational shift in attitudes and behaviour going on, the implications of which could be profound if the industry grasps the opportunity offered. Automobile ownership levels amongst young people are dropping for the first time- particularly in the developed world i.e. the UK, Europe, USA and Canada. It’s partly economic, partly social and partly because patterns of travel need are changing with the advent of things like on-line shopping. No longer is the car viewed as an

Public transport needs to focus on its core asset: the network, and make visible to users and potential users the true extent and stability of the system available. The vehicles that run the services are transitory and the network is invisible, so perceived as less substantial and stable over time than it actually is. A key is to make the hubs the showcase for the system - the places where vehicles pick up and people can connect with the system: bus stops, stations and interchanges. High q

From a background deeply routed in hardware and consumer electronics for transport, and other sectors, multinational giant Siemens is rapidly pushing forward its mission to be the provider of ‘smart’ solutions for multifunction travel and urban consumer activities. It is just one of a growing group of major companies eyeing up the travel market and launching new consumer transaction concepts. It sees the dominant trend of urbanization giving city governments the chance to turn thei

A recognition of the new place information about transport occupies in society and the economy was signalled this summer when Ministers of Transport and Telecommunications reached a common understanding on the future steps for boosting the “Connecting Europe Facility,” and its objectives for growth and economic recovery, through the concept of “Intelligent Communications Transport”. During an Informal Transport and Telecommunications meeting in Lefkosia (Nicosia) in Jul

UK operator Stagecoach Group is to trial a new smartphone app developed by global mobility solutions specialist Vix Technology, enabling bus users to receive, store and validate their bus tickets using their mobile phones. The initial trial will take place on Stagecoach buses across Cambridgeshire, including those on the Cambridge Park & Ride and Guided Busway services. The system will use near field communications (NFC) and has been developed on the Android platform. Passengers will be a

Metro, the West Yorkshire Integrated Transport Authority, has agreed a £7 million plan to implement a smartcard ticketing system for bus users in Bradford and neighbouring districts. The green light follows a successful joint bid by Metro and bus operators to the Department for Transport (DfT) for almost £5 million of funding. Plans include fitting alround 400 vehicles run by smaller operators with smartcard readers, to bring them into line with those of Transdev Keighley and Arriv

West Yorkshire’s Integrated Transport Authority (ITA) members have voted to support the introduction of England’s first Quality Contract framework for bus services. Their move reflects a growing frustration that the UK is failing to achieve the benefits of genuine operator/local authority partnership in passenger transport provision since the introduction of privatisation and deregulation outside London. But the authority has looked to Sweden rather than London for its model of colla

UK rail mobile phone ticketing pioneer Masabi has won a contract to launch the US’ first smartphone rail ticketing system for the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA).It is the US’ fifth largest transit agency carrying some some 1.3 million passenger trips each weekday. The system will allow passengers to buy and display rail tickets on their smartphones across the MBTA’s commuter rail network. It will support iPhone, Android and Blackberry devices and is expected

Glasgow commuters will offered contactless smartcard payment on the city’s single-line circular Subway from 2013 as part of the system’s £288m upgrade. The Scottish Government is contributing funding for the system, developed by Ecebs and the Strathclyde Partnership for Transport (SPT). It is due to be in place in time for the 2014 Commonwealth Games. At present there is a flat fare, and a new system will introduce lower rates for short journeys. To avoid people being caught

UK chip designer ARM, The Netherlands-HQ’d  digital security vendor Gemalto, and German smartcard fare and parking system provider Giesecke & Devrient have set up a joint venture aimed at delivering a common security standard for the growing numbers of electronic payment services and devices. Reflecting the increasing availability of direct access to bank and credit/debit card accounts, the JV hopes that, with improved security standards delivered in a way that makes for easier

National Express Group has highlighted that the UK government’s decision to scrap concessionary travel programmes for coach passengers last November will cost its coach division £15m of lost revenue this year. In its first quarter trading statement, the group said that “mitigating the lower profit” that the reduced revenue would cause would be the coach division’s major challenge in 2012. Initial progress following the launch of National Express’s own conces

The UK Department for Transport has published a new rail demand forecasting framework developed by consultants Oxera and Arup that suggests current industry expectations of passenger responses to price and journey time changes may be wrong. It adds to an emerging understanding that the old principles and practices of revenue management are increasingly out of date. Commissioned by the DfT, Transport Scotland and the Passenger Demand Forecasting Council, the ‘Revisiting the elasticity-base

Plans in the UK government’s rail Command Paper for retailers close to stations, and potentially high street libraries, post offices and supermarkets, to sell rail tickets could draw on technology developed for Merseyrail’s MtoGo concept. The first MtoGo combined convenience store and ticket sales outlet was opened in 2006 at Liverpool’s Moorfields, and has since been extended to a further seven stations. The concept was enabled by a ticketing system developed by Fujitsu wh

When Transport for London launches its Future Ticketing Programme (FTP) this summer, it will be the first system of its kind in the world. London will be the first city to offer EMV contactless bankcard ticketing across its entire range of transport service, and the first to develop an associated account-based fares system allowing new ticket types to be offered across all modes. The creation of the back office required to process the data and enable fares rules to be applied under an accoun

A project involving the Association of Train Operating Companies has begun to consider building on the UK’s Rail Settlement Plan philosophy to offer payment reconciliation across all modes of transportThe project – South East Fares and Ticketing (SEFT) – was launched following the announcement in the Chancellor’s November budget that £45m would be provided as part funding for implementation of ITSO smartcard rail ticketing across the south east. While SEFT began

There is a new kind of transport enthusiast, the “app collector”. I recently realised that my own collection of travel apps looks small when compared with that of an avid collector. There is an increasing range of apps that address similar travel information challenges in different ways. How many do I actually need? Looking on the Android store for “bus London”, for example, there are 31 apps that give bus departures in London and all have at least 3 stars, with mo

Transport system users face many choices in how they travel. In mode, route, types of service, price for different timings and speeds, payment mechanism and loyalty scheme discounts, and any enhancements they may wish to add, from class of service to seat reservation and catering extras. Finding out all these options to construct a journey, and its cost, has always been a challenge, with no comprehensive information point generally available, even within single operating organisations, about

Arriva UK Bus has reported that its mobile ticketing application was used more than two million times during its first two years of operation. A further three million journeys will be made using the app this year, the operator estimates. There have been more than 65,000 registrations of the service, which represents one in four of regular users, said Arriva. The free app, designed by Concept Data Technologies and Arriva, can be used on any internet-enabled mobile phone. Some 16% of all off-

Thales has launched its 500 series platform gates and ticket reader. The OR500 reader is compatible with most contactless payment systems and bank cards, said the company. The OR 500, due to be available by the end of this year, can be integrated into greenfield projects or as an upgrade in any regional or nationwide fare collection systems, said Thales. The firms adds that its “expertise in cryptology” ensures that data exchanges and equipment in the management system is totally sec

Rail Europe, provider of European rail ticketing, has appointed Karen McClellan as managing director. She succeeds Vincent Dedecker, who has led Rail Europe since April 2007 and takes up a new position within Rail Europe’s parent company French National Railways SNCF. McClellan  has been with the company 10 years, and has held the positions of finance and systems director and deputy managing director. She has been responsible for overseeing the introduction of a back office bookin

The insurance industry isn’t often looked upon as a paragon of retail virtue, so you might think it a bit odd if I suggest that those in the passenger transport business could learn a thing or two from that sector. But let’s see if I can persuade you. The proposition is my recurring concern: the reward from genuine customer focussed thinking. Once a year I fill in a form for my car insurance. It asks me to confirm some things about me (age, length of driving licence, etc), the vehi

Michael Leach has left his post as chief executive of ITSO and will become managing director of his own business and information technology consultancy MAJL Ltd. ITSO is the non-profit distributing membership organisation responsible for developing and maintaining the UK Government’s specification for smart and integrated ticketing, which has received government support up til the end of this year.  

Why is he on the list? Leads arguably the premier urban transport authority in Europe. What kind of year has he had? A huge year. Transport for London unveiled plans for the world’s first citywide contactless bankcard EMV payment system; the new version of the Routemaster was launched; and Johnson’s idea for a Thames estuary airport began to gain ground. Olympic plans are ahead of schedule and promise to leave a lasting legacy on demand management and communication systems as we

Across the world, major cycle hire schemes are becoming an increasingly prevalent part of the urban transport mix, with cities such as London, Paris and Barcelona among the leaders. At the same time, car clubs have begun to gain in scale and use. Similarly, the concept of integrating cycle and car hire with public transport has been established through schemes run by major European rail operators to cater for the ‘last mile’ of door-to-door journeys, which are often outside the scope

Six months away from the start of the Olympic Games in London, concerns remain at the ability of the transport system to perform at the required world leading level. A huge effort has been made by London to take the opportunity of the Games to showcase both the city and its transport system, with an emphasis on providing public transport services that cover the vast majority of the needs of participants and visitors. However, there are doubts – including amongst professionals involved

The public transport industry has a sometimes ambivalent attitude when it comes to making transport fully accessible for disabled travellers. The whole notion can be characterised as an unwelcome bureaucratic intervention, with the money involved seen to be better spent on other initiatives. The alternative, and perhaps more imaginative approach, is that catering for such needs can make the public transport offering more generally attractive for a much wider range of users - both existing and po

Centro has teamed up with Rotala Buses to launch the Signature smartcard, allowing passengers in the West Midlands to pay fares electronically for the first time. They will also enjoy a cheaper fare compared to paying by cash. The technology is being road-tested on Rotala’s Signature services in and around Solihull. Passenger feedback and the performance of the technology will be closely monitored over the coming weeks as part of an on-going evaluation. Geoff Inskip, chief executive of Ce

Rail passengers in Northern Ireland can now buy, receive and display an electronic ticket on their mobile phones. Translink decided to roll out the service to all passengers at the start of this year after a successful trial involving 200 people. The system, developed by Translink Ticketing Systems and Trapeze Group, is compatible on any standard mobile phone that can access the internet as well as iPhone, Blackberry and Android handsets. By downloading the free mLink app, customers can buy tic

Paris-style dedicated lines. Almost all metro lines operate with just one route or line per tunnel, instead of multiple routes per tunnel as in New York City, or on the Metropolitan or Circle Line in London. This simplifies train operations and eliminates junction delays as different routes merge onto the same tracks. The disadvantage with this model is that customers must transfer between different lines—sometimes circuitously—instead of enjoying a one seat ride. No express service

The Competition Commission (CC) has acted to prevent bus operators from making short term increases in frequencies and restricting access to bus stations in order to protect their territory from incursions by rival companies. The measures are among the CC’s remedies for increasing competition and improve service quality in local bus markets. Others include more effective multi-operator ticketing schemes, close scrutiny of bus mergers, and encouraging ‘competition-friendly’ part

Vodafone is developing a future business strategy based on evolving from a provider of mobile connectivity to a provider of business solutions, and transport is at the heart of its thinking, the Travel 2020 event heard. Max Croot, Vodafone Global Enterprises M2M business development manager, told the Travel 2020 conference that the company’s current business model would rapidly become outdated. Future business strategy would be based on developing data mining capabilities based on its abi

The Travel 2020 event at the beginning of November featured two days of cutting edge information exchange and debate about the future of passenger transport service provision, information and payment systems and the management of customer relationships. The tone for discussions amongst the audience of transport and travel professionals was set by the first morning’s  plenary presentations by transport minister Norman Baker and Stagecoach chief executive Sir Brian Souter. Baker outlin

Southern has launched a pilot of its new smartcard, the key, at all stations on the line from Brighton to Seaford. Around 100 passengers, stakeholders and Southern staff are taking part in the three-month pilot. They will offer feedback to allow the system to be refined before it is rolled out across the rest of Southern’s network next year and potentially link up with bus travel. Smartcard holders can purchase tickets online or at ticket machines at Southern stations between Brighton and

East Midlands Trains has installed 30 new collection-only ticket machines at eight of the major stations on its network. The Parkeon machines are designed to complement the full service ticket machines already in place at East Midlands Trains stations. Passengers can book their tickets in advance at www.eastmidlands.co.uk and then collect them at the station by using the credit or debit card they used for their booking. The new machines have been installed at Sheffield, Nottingham, Chesterfie

Readers of my previous columns in New Transit magazine will be aware that I have been developing a discussion about the different business models that passenger transport providers can chose to pursue, and the issues they face in the particular business, political and regulatory environments in which they operate. I was aware that I was walking in a something of a minefield, and facing a real danger of just talking theory and concepts, rather than practicalities. So this time I’m going to

At present, public  transport provision, retailing and information is largely dominated by the agenda of individual operators and local authorities, rather than the way consumers would prefer to review the market and make buying decisions. Different transport offers continue to exist largely in silos. As a result, the services provided to the public continue to be based predominantly on the specialisms of the parties involved, and the products and services they feel comfortable in offering.

Global automated fare collection specialist Cubic Transportation Systems (CTS) has partnered with US commuter rail operator the Port Authority Transit Corporation (PATCO) in a 12-month pilot to implement what they claim to be the first transit-branded, contactless Visa prepaid card in North America. Passengers in the Philadelphia/New Jersey region of the north east US can use the new Wave & Pay ANYWHERE Card for both their transport fares on the high-speed service and for retail purchases.

­T­­here  is an increasingly stark contrast between how sustainable mobility (especially public transport) is perceived by politicians and academics, and how it is thought about by the general public. Experts look at how it ‘delivers’ on paper while the public experience using it in practice. This year’s ‘Travel 2020’ conference is highlighting just how quickly things are changing in our transport systems, and what needs to be put in place  to

Simon Pearson has been appointed as regional revenue development manager for First’s bus operations in the North of England. Based  in Leeds, he will be responsible for developing ticketing strategies across First bus networks in the North (West and North Yorkshire, South Yorkshire, Greater Manchester and the North West). He joins First from East Coast Trains where he worked for 12 years and was head of retail development.

Cubic Transportation is among the companies presenting a new vision for transport systems at the Travel 2020 conference, based on integrating information and payment systems for all modes of public and private transport. The IT tools to implement its ‘Nextcity’ vision are in different stages of development and are being created from a range of Cubic systems explains Martin Howell, worldwide marketing and communication Director at Cubic Transportation Systems. Cubic is a leading pro

­I­­t’s easy to under-estimate how unfamiliar many people are with using public transport.  A lot of the population simply don’t ever take the train or bus- so have little conception of how the system works. Last year, a community group did some research in my neighbourhood about people’s awareness of local transport and it revealed a huge lack of understanding. We seem to very often assume that people somehow ‘know’ that there’s a train and b

Here’s a scenario: you are a commuter into a metropolitan area and out again. You travel to work in the morning, have to be at your office by 9 am, leave at 5, travel back home. You make the trip every  Monday to Friday in a normal week, for around 220 days in the year. Seems unremarkable, I know, but the demise of this kind of activity has been predicted quite often – for reasons ranging from the decline of cities as a focus of our economic life, to the rise of tele-working. In

The UK’s European leadership in contactless EMV bankcard transport payment is forging ahead. Shortly after Transport for London introduces EMV payment for bus and tube travel across its network next year, as the first city authority in any country to do so, passengers on FirstGroup services in the rest of England will also be able to pay for bus travel with contactless bankcards. The company announced at the start of this month that it would be fitting new ticket machines with dual smartca

FirstGroup’s announcement that it will skip a technology and introduce contactless bankcard payment across its English bus fleet from next year, is just the latest step in a revolution that is gathering pace. The past few weeks have also seen the UK’s Association of Train Operating Companies all but admit that operators have plans to close nearly 700 station ticket offices due to the growth in new ticket retailing technology, much of it used by customers well away from the station, a

Oyster cards can now be bought from ticket machines at almost every station on the London Underground network. The machines, fitted with a new dispensing mechanism , can issue Oysters cards as quickly as paper tickets, said a Transport for London spokeswoman. Some 400 Oyster dispensing machines, upgraded by Cubic Transportation Systems, are in operation across the Tube network, with at least one machine at every station expect Roding Valley. Each of the upgraded machines can hold 400 Oyster ca

Arriva UK Bus has reported more than a million tickets have been brought via its mobile phone ticketing application. In the first 18 months of operation, 40,000 users have registered to use m-ticketing, booking 1,020,181 journeys across the UK. The free app, designed by Concept Data Technologies and Arriva, can be used on any internet-enabled mobile phone. Once the journey has been booked, an e-ticket is sent to the user’s phone. This is shown to the driver as the start of the journey.&nb

Rail fares across franchises in England and Wales will rise by an average of 8% in January with rises on some routes as high as 13%. The increases will come as a result of the Department for Transport’s new formula for setting regulated fares which has been changed from RPI+1% to RPI+3% in order to reduce rail subsidy. The increase is based on July’s inflation figures, which were released today, and showed RPI of 5%. Flexibility given to train operators means that on some routes, far

New approaches to passenger transport provision and use are emerging in a variety of ways and a range of situations. Some are coming from an institutional level through the initiatives of large public authorities (mainly cities) or corporations (like transport vehicle makers). Others are more local projects to “join up” pieces of the jigsaw or add helpful new elements to the offer. 1. Transport for London Transport for London has promoted a widening definition of collective transpo

There is a potential revolution on the cards in how customers are offered their choices of how to travel. Rather than be faced with a myriad of options by different operators, each one of which offers an individual journey and requires separate research for information and a purchase transaction, the alternative could be a single source for the right combination to meet a traveller’s personal needs. Information is already being presented in multi-modal integrated forms with journey plann

In my last piece, I mused on the way in which governmental approaches to regulation of passenger transport can have some unintended consequences; specifically, the difficulty in providing incentives for transport operators to innovate and even – in the name of competition management –how ‘steering’ an open market hobbles their ability to drive efficiency. It was rather apposite that since I wrote about that subject, the UK Competition Commission Report on the UK bus marke

Consumers in the US are now spending more time on mobile phone apps than on the web, according to a study by mobile application development analysts, Flurry. Confirmation – if it were needed – that the mobile phone and its derivatives are now the communication device of choice for most people. And those transport operators who ignore this fact in their ticketing plans are likely to be left stranded by an unstoppable technological revolution.  By 2015, according to another study

Automatic ticket gates are being installed at five Glasgow stations in a bid to combat fare evasion and anti-social behaviour. ScotRail estimate that the gates will save around £2m a year in lost revenue. The gates are being supplied by Cubic Transportation Systems. “Cubic was the successful supplier — they met all criteria in terms of functionality, design, price and programme,” said ScotRail’s project manager Kirsty Watson. The gates have been installed at Charin

Smart cards have been very popular with retailers, service-providers and users: the range of applications is constantly increasing and expanding for the debit, credit and loyalty cards that have been progressively replacing cash and cheques for the past couple of decades. As a result, we all carry wallets bulging with cards – for season tickets, banking, shops, libraries, clubs, work access....That can be annoying – especially if they are lost or forgotten. The dream solution wou

Most of us adore gadgets – and the one we love most is our mobile. I say ‘mobile’ in the singular, but according to the latest (2009) figures from the International Telecommunication Union, the UK has over 80 million mobile subscribers – that’s well over one per person. Mobile technology has swept through the world, connecting everyone, rich or poor, from Africa to Antarctica, sometimes (in China and Finland, for example) replacing fixed lines or creating new facili

Mobile phones have changed our lives - not least how we communicate whilst travelling. Now they are set to change the whole of the passenger transport business and its relationship with its customers. Near Field Communication (NFC) is the technology that everyone is talking about, but mobiles play a part in every aspect of travel: the phone has become much more than a means of communication. It is a universal ticket-wallet, travel document, timetable, work tool,  source of distraction and

The Handheld Group has won the contract to supply the Netherlands Railways with more than 10,000 Nautiz handhelds for ticket control, travel information and support of workflow processes. The order includes 6,000 Nautiz eTicket Pro units, containing an Arcontia RFID module. The contract was won by a consortium, HS Mobility, formed by Sweden-based Handheld Group together with the Dutch software partner company Sigmax B.V. The contract to supply the PDAs runs for five years, with most being depl

Bus operator Go North East has launched The Key smartcard, offering passengers a quick and alternative to paper tickets. Those using the smartcard will be eligible to a range of discount offers. To switch to the smartcard passengers have to visit www.simplygo.com/thekey After they register their details a smartcard will be sent to them the same day, free of charge. Passengers will be able to switch their weekly ticket or monthly pass to the Key. When travelling, passengers put their Key on the

User-unfriendly ticket vending machines (TVMs) can deny convenient access to public transport for passengers with disabilities. Currently available accessibility features require disabled users to remember special activation codes in order to enter the system. Overcoming these problems is the aim of two new research projects, one European and the other based in the UK. In April APSIS4all (Accessible Personalised Services In public digital terminal (PDT) Services for all) started to receive fun

Smart phones now have many features that are relevant to the public transport user, and those in the business can apply these features to address user needs. We should not overlook the screen. A few years ago it was just a text display for the telephone number. Now it has an amazingly fine resolution, in colour, brightly lit and large enough to display graphics and photos. Most phones now have a better screen than the public monitors and electronic signs at the roadside or in stations which are

Chiltern Railways has launched a pioneering new approach to mobile phone ticketing with an integrated system that enables passengers to buy, instantly receive and validate tickets by barcode through an app on their mobile phone. Introduced ahead of an NFC capability, it is ready to embrace that element too Passengers who have bought mTickets with Chiltern through their mobiles are able to get through barriers equipped with optical barcode readers within seconds, without needing to queue at tick

At the end of last year, the board of German national transport operator Deutsche Bahn quietly made a major commitment to roll out its ‘Touch & Travel’ mobile phone based payment and ticketing project. The NFC based system was early piloted in 2008, with 200 users on the Hanover to Berlin line and in the city of Potsdam. It was then extended to cover travel between the cities of Cologne, Frankfurt, Hanover and Berlin in 2010. Alongside this, the Berlin regional transport agency B

The British government prompted Competition Commission inquiry into local bus services may not have been billed as a means of creating a new framework for the bus industry to better meet public policy objectives. But there is no doubt this was its subtext. After 16 months of investigations, the Commission’s provisional findings have come no closer to success  than the politicians who have been berating ‘profiteering’ operators for the past two decades since de-regulation a

Customer data gathered through loyalty card schemes is a crucial part of business planning in the retail industry and other consumer sectors like holidays and entertainment. It allows companies such as supermarkets, department stores, hotels and venues to hold precise records of what each customer buys, when they shop and how their preferences change over time. Individual customers are targeted with special offers which prompt changes in  their behaviour, leading to them trying new products

North American bus operator Greyhound Lines is installing 150 NCR self-service ticketing kiosks at bus depots across the USA. Passengers will be able to buy tickets at kiosks or pick up tickets  bought online. So far the SelfServ 60 kiosks have been installed at major stations in several cities including New York, Boston, Philadelphia, Chicago and Washington D.C. The system is being rolled out to cities including Houston, Orlando, Atlanta, Los Angeles and Seattle. To use the system, Grey

First is set to launch a Customer Promise compensation package for passengers across South Yorkshire whose journeys are disrupted. From May 9, customers will be able to claim a free Day ticket when: A service departs more than one minute early A service departs more than 20 minutes late An advertised service fails to operate The Customer Promise covers vehicle breakdowns and errors made by First, but not factors outside First’s control, such as severe weather disruption

How should a modern consumer industry set its objectives for providing its users with the services they want, retaining business and winning new custom? The passenger transport industry has its own well-established way:  find out what matters most to existing customers, measure performance in delivering it, and get that performance right. This has led to punctuality and reliability taking centre stage, coming through in survey after survey as the most important issue to passengers, and the

A mobile phone ticketing system, which will give passengers details of the cheapest prices and train times and then deliver the ticket as a 2D barcode, has been launched by Chiltern Railways. Scanners on gates at stations will read the iPhone screen to enable passengers to touch in and out of stations. The iPhone app will include details of delays and disruption. The app will remember favourite journeys and debit card details, so that travel can be made with “just a few touches of the sc

Why is he on the list? Campaign for Better Transport (previously Transport 2000) is the leading transport NGO. Joseph has been executive director of the organisation since 1988. What kind of year has he had? Headed by Joseph, CBT’s small team of campaigners are fighting hard for a pro-public transport agenda at a time when the government is slashing transport funding and the new transport secretary has expressed a desire to “end the war on the motorist”. It’s a big cha

Why is he on the list? Scales has headed Merseytravel, which co-ordinates public transport in Merseyside, for 11 years. In addition, he chairs three industry bodies: ACT TravelWise, which promotes sustainable travel; ITSO, the integrated smartcard organisation; and RTIG-INFORM, which aims to maximise the effectiveness of technology in passenger transport. What kind of year has he had? As chief executive of Merseytravel and chair of PTEG (a role he has now relinquished), Scales fought for co

Ten, even five years ago, pursuing a transport story was relatively straightforward for journalists. It was simply a matter of picking up the phone and grilling the big names. Even transport group main board directors could often be reached on a casual whim and generally relied upon to give a view across the business. Times have changed. Throughout the vast majority of the industry, there is now a process to be followed, with requests made through PR officers, and appointments scheduled. Acces

So, my time at the Department for Transport has come to an end. Having joined as a director general in 2002 it was clearly time for me to move on - although whether moving back to Works and Pensions is really “moving on” is a moot point I guess! Still, I’ve had a pretty good time at transport even if my achievements may not be quite as dramatic as I might wish. After all, it takes so long to get things done, and because transport affects everybody’s daily lives and every

Retailers are finding new ways to harness the potential offered by smartphones to reach out to new and potential customers. ‘Apps’ have been developed that enable users to view and purchase goods and services on their smartphone, and these apps are becoming ever more sophisticated. Tesco, for example, has added a barcode reader to its groceries iPhone app that can add items to a customer’s online home delivery order. Retailers in the passenger transport sector are getting in o

John Groves Ticket Systems is now offering the Casio IT-3100 machine as a ticketing solution. This machine is a totally configurable Windows-based integral ticket issuing unit, and it does not require a separate printer. It has additional add-on options such as a bar code reader/scanner, which can take pictures, and a magnetic card reader. Bluetooth and GPRS capabilities are built in. An illuminated keypad and a colour display that features superb clarity make the Casio IT-3100 easy and quick to

Heathrow Express, has launched a free mobile application allowing passengers to purchase tickets and receive them direct to their phones in less than 30 seconds. The app is available for iPhone, BlackBerry, Android and Java-enabled mobile devices and can be used up to 15 minutes before travel. As well as a sales function, the app provides live service updates to keep passengers informed throughout their journey. Other functions include a personalised fast-track payment process, which provides a

George Osborne came of age on October 20. Whatever one may think about the rights and wrongs of the spending review, I could not but help admire his performance in the Commons when he delivered his statement. In many respects it was nakedly political, with the objective seemingly to taunt and goad Labour rather than to rise above party politics for a spending review that is one of the most severe in living memory. George Osborne has shown his political street fighting abilities, in spades. Stil

The Travel 2020 Exhibition, held alongside the conference, demonstrated that technology already exists to provide public transport customers with real time information and ticket sales whatever their location and through a wide variety of media. ACIS, YouTextus, and ITS exhibited personalised information services which enable passengers to plan their journeys according to latest real time information both on PCs and on the move via mobile handsets. Facilities for journey planning at bus stops v

Over the past month there have been signs that the long-awaited revolution in public transport ticketing and payment systems is about to take off. New smart ticketing schemes have been launched in Merseyside, Cardiff and Oxford. Meanwhile, In the South West, a new not for profit company has been formed by local authorities and the bus industry to deliver smart ticketing throughout the region. ITSO, the body responsible for smart ticketing standards, predicts further announcements will follow r

For supporters of smartcard ticketing, progress towards introducing it on local bus services has been painfully slow. However, the last month saw new smartcard ticketing initiatives launched in England, Scotland and Wales. And Stagecoach has become the first major UK bus operator to complete the installation of government-standard smartcard ticket machines on its entire UK bus fleet outside London. All 7,000 vehicles in Stagecoach’s regional bus operations are now ready to move forward w

Recently I was delighted to be invited by the Thames Valley Branch of the Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport to read a paper to them on the concept of Bus Rapid Transit. This brought me back to the very start of my professional transport career, where I started at the then-governmental Transport & Road Research Laboratory based near Reading in the early 1970s. Even then, the town had quite a reputation for the quality of its municipal bus network, as well as efforts to adopt &ls

The Travel 2020 conference and exhibition which took place at London’s Brit Oval in September gave delegates a glimpse of how technology associated with travel information and smartcard payment systems will develop in the next decade. After a stimulating two days of presentations and discussions, the key question is how are the operators in the UK going to embrace the new culture of ‘personal real time navigation systems’ - incorporating information, planning, booking, smart pa

The introduction of England’s free concessionary fares scheme has led to a significant increase in bus use. However, research undertaken by ITS Leeds shows that uptake of the free bus pass is inconsistent. In Lancashire 56% of eligible people don’t use it. Conversely 2.5% of passholders account for 25% of trips. During the conference, a debate was held to discuss whether the scheme is delivering its intended outcomes and providing value for money. Andrew Meaney, Head of Transport,

Operators, consultants and local authorities have painted an apocalyptic vision of the impact on bus networks from forthcoming changes to the English concessionary fares regime. The new system, which will come into effect in April, has been billed by the Department for Transport as a means of simplifying negotiations between operators and local authorities over reimbursement rates. However, at a conference sponsored by New Transit in early November, the DfT was warned that its primary impact w

It’s been voted the most irritating television advert of the year, but it’s hard to forget GoCompare’s offering. It involves a rotund and moustachioed opera singer, “Gio Compario”, popping up unexpectedly in everyday situations to urge us to visit the GoCompare website for the best deals on insurance. You probably know it, but did you know that one of the people behind it is Brian Souter? The Stagecoach co-founder and chief executive has recently gone public with

The Department for Transport this week reminded interested parties that its consultation into reimbursement arrangements for England's national concessionary bus travel scheme closes soon. It launched an eight-week consultation exercise in late September on changing reimbursement arrangements for concessionary travel. The Department's best estimate is that the changes will reduce the amount of reimbursement paid to operators by between £68m and £132m a year. About £1bn a yea

Stagecoach has become the first major UK bus operator to complete the installation of ITSO smartcard ticket machines on its entire UK bus fleet outside London. All 7,000 vehicles in Stagecoach’s regional bus operations are now fitted with the equipment, with over half already accepting ITSO smartcards in live schemes.  In London, all of the company’s 1,400 buses, operated by the recently acquired East London business, accept Transport for London’s Oyster card. The mile

Although the Department for Transport is expected to make a more detailed announcement next week, it has already provided a more detailed analysis of some if its spending priorities. Rail ticketing For rail the biggest announcement from the DfT is that the cap on regulated rail fares will increase from the current RPI+1% to an average annual increase of RPI+3% for three years from January 2012. In a statement it added that due to the impact of relatively high inflation at present the governm

London mayor Boris Johnson has welcomed vital investment to improve London's transport network and safeguard the capital's future announced in the government's Comprehensive Spending Review. Speaking at a City Hall press conference yesterday afternoon, Johnson said Transport for London's funding settlement had secured the future of a number of transport projects in the capital. The projects that will now go forward are the continued upgrade of the London Underground network and Crossrail. Mean

The rail industry has reacted to news of the Comprehensive Spending Review by broadly welcoming plans for a number of rail schemes. "The Department for Transport seems to have come out with a smaller cut to its budget than many other departments, and train companies and passengers will welcome the Chancellor’s support for a number of rail schemes across the country, including Crossrail," said ATOC chief executive Michael Roberts. “However, we will need to see the full

There has already been criticism of plans to increase rail fares by RPI+3% for three years from January 2012, announced as part of the Comprehensive Spending Review. Stephen Joseph, the chief executive of the Campaign for Better Transport, said: "The chancellor’s statement focuses on large-scale transport projects but the reality is cuts in funding for everyday transport. These projects should not be used as a smokescreen to cover up service cuts and rocketing fares on our buses and

In the four years since the government introduced free bus passes nationally for senior citizens, local authorities and operators have been caught up in acrimonious debate about reimbursement. The principle that reimbursement rates should leave operators no better off and no worse off sounds eminently sensible. However, the need to speculate on what would have happened without the concession has been a cause of numerous rows, not helped by the lack of decent quality data to determine additional

In the four years since the government introduced free bus passes nationally for senior citizens, local authorities and operators have been caught up in acrimonious debate about reimbursement. The principle that reimbursement rates should leave operators no better off and no worse off sounds eminently sensible. However, the need to speculate on what would have happened without the concession has been a cause of numerous rows, not helped by the lack of decent quality data to determine additional

The whole country is bracing itself for the impact of savage cuts in public spending, but there can be few more anxious than transport professionals in the North of England. The North is expected to suffer more than most regions of the UK, and transport is one of the sectors that is likely to face the most dramatic cuts. Once the implications of this month’s Comprehensive Spending Review become clear, transport providers, local authorities and PTEs in the North of England will have to ma

We have reached a point where most of us agree that cashless transactions are the way forward. There is still much debate about which new format will triumph but the direction of the trend is now clear. Whether through smartcards, mobile ticketing or contactless debit cards, cash transactions look set to fade away over the next few years and a golden cashless future beckons. Really? Does it? And if it does, have we actually thought through what this means? You see the trouble is that a lot of

The boundaries which govern the provision of transport in the North of England do not always reflect the region’s economic geography. The Merseyrail Electrics network has been successfully expanded outside of the Merseyside county boundary, to Chester, Ellesmere Port and Ormskirk, but there is clearly scope for further expansion. Peter Huntley, a resident of Preston, Lancashire, experienced this for himself in August. “I did a cycle tour around North Wales and went round the coast,&

Despite the doom and gloom surrounding the economy, the recent UK Bus Awards conference at Warwick University gave a chance for industry thinkers to recognise some of the achievements that have been made despite the recent recession. Leading the charge was Brighton & Hove managing director Roger French, who said: “We aren’t surviving the recession, we’ve survived the recession. Optimists amongst us would say, ‘Recession? What recession!’” French revealed

Journey Solutions have joined BRT UK and ITS UK in support of Septembers Travel 2020 event. The British Transport Police have today confirmed their involvement in the efficient passenger interchange section of the conference presenting their paper: Safety and security for passengers staff and systems. Keynote speaker Minister Norman Baker has underlined the significance of Travel 2020 with his comments last week about creating a national multi-modal system for easy and flexible travel pay

New Transit’s scene-setting preview for the Travel 2020 exhibition and conference At present, the way public transport is sold and services publicised remains more akin to a nineteenth century experience than the twenty-first across most of the country. The scene at large railway stations during peak times as passengers queue in slow moving lines to pick up paper tickets from booking office clerks hardly reflects the fast-moving, customer service-led private sector enterprises which passe

Rail travel across the UK is experiencing an exciting new era. As customer demand for buying rail tickets online continues to grow exponentially, the industry is adapting. Buying rail is becoming easier with intuitive and easy to use technology, leading to significant benefits for both operators and their customers. Operators are using this opportunity to get closer to passengers, cut ticket servicing costs and drive new revenue and repeat business through products and targeted promotions. For

A new report produced by the Passenger Transport Executive Group aims to set out the lessons for the UK from the “public transport laboratory” of the Netherlands. PTEG says that the document, produced by Dutch consultants Inno-V, lifts the lid on the development of Dutch public transport networks over the last decade since the widespread adoption of franchising models for bus and, in some cases, rail networks. It adds that it is the first time that transport policy makers in the UK h

The Treasury’s May announcement of Department for Transport cuts of £683m gives some clues. Popular concessionary bus fares will stay but eligibility may be tightened and charges for card issue introduced. 61% of UK local bus service support goes to Transport for London who may raise fares rather than cut the network as bus use growth continues. Outside London, local authorities will cut bus service support, perhaps impacting rural services while some Park and Ride services could b

Members of the TSSA union have voted three to one in a ballot for strike action in a dispute over proposals by London Underground to reduce ticket office hours at a number of Tube stations in the capital. Members of the RMT are also considering strike action over the issue. As the leadership of the TSSA and RMT met today to consider strike dates on the Tube network, LU today urged them to call off the threatened action and recognise that as a result of the widespread use of the Oyster smart t

Robert Jack is quite right to point out in his recent editorial that customer ticketing technology is changing fast. The iPhone generation is looking for easy solutions that fit the way they use familiar devices such as smartphones to manage their lives. That is why our strategy of delivering smarter travel options for our customers is focused on a range of platforms. As well as pioneering the use of smartcard technology in our bus and rail operations in the UK and supporting the delivery of c

By 2020 whatever our mobile phones have morphed into will become our gateway to public transport use. Applications will have developed so that public transport users are able to use mobile devices in a similar way to satellite navigation systems. Users will be able to enter a destination, the device knowing exactly where you are, and the application will be able to tell you the quickest or cheapest or most scenic route taking into account real-time information. Your device will also include an i

Personal use of multi-media information, in-travel entertainment/communication, way-finding navigation, and smartcard payments/entry systems are important components of a modern public transport service. The evolution of the iPad/iPhone point the way to the future travel companion - incorporating all these services. The mass appeal of such interactive services is established, reducing boredom, anxiety, and uncertainty, states of mind often associated with travelling. With investment in the unde

According to the Olympic Delivery Authority, the 2012 Games in London represent the biggest logistical challenge that the country has faced in peace time. The scale of the operation is vast. Throughout the 16 days of competition, the capital’s transport system will have to cater for an average of 500,000 spectators a day, plus 140,000 games workers and volunteers and 55,000 members of the Olympic family, including athletes, officials and media. The Olympic Park is the centre of the action

The modernisation of how customers pay for their bus and train travel has take a long time to arrive. A very long time. Stephen Morris, external affairs officer at Bus Users UK, recalls a visit to Harrow bus station in north west London where he saw the first trial of smartcard technology - back in 1994. Think how much the technology that shapes our everyday lives has changed since then. We have bid farewell to telephone boxes and magnetic tapes and we have embraced mobile phones, MP3 players an

Thetrainline.com, the UK’s leading rail ticket retailer, has signed a deal for a mass-market mobile ticketing purchase and delivery system. The system will allow users to buy and display UK rail tickets direct from their mobile phones for any route on the National Rail network without having to visit ticket offices or ticket machines. The system is already in development with a rollout expected later in 2010. While it has been possible to purchase tickets online for some time, the Masabi

Change was the buzzword in run-up to May’s general election, and change is what is now going to happen. The world of public transport is no stranger to major upheavals. The bus industry experienced its fair share of them following privatisation in the mid-1980s, and it was the rail industry’s turn a decade later. But now, in 2010, we appear to be at the beginning of a new era. A combination of factors are coming together to create a new formula for the future. Perhaps the most obvio

The coalition between the Liberal Democrats and the Conservatives has announced its 'Programme for Government', a move that prime minister David Cameron described as one that would provide "Strong, stable government". The transport element of the programme are a mixture of the two parties policies and express a firm commitment to take forward plans for a high speed rail network, support for Crossrail and further electrification of the rail network. The coalition also plans to refor

If the market for long distance travel is a game then the airlines had an unlucky throw of the dice in April. The five-day closure of UK airspace due to a huge cloud of volcanic ash from Iceland cost them many millions of pounds. But, as ever, one man’s misfortune is another man’s gain. With thousands of would-be air travellers forced to change their plans, land-based transport like Virgin Trains, East Coast, National Express and Megabus carried thousands of extra passengers. The ep

Perhaps unsurprisingly, bus passengers have revealed that their overwhelming priority for improvement from local operators is that buses operate on-time or within five minutes of their scheduled arrival time, according to new research produced by watchdog Passenger Focus. Passengers also say that more frequent services and the ability for all passengers to have a seat, no what matter the journey length, are key concerns. Bus Passenger Priorities for Improvement was produced by transport consul

When the volcano crisis struck, business travellers booked to fly on domestic routes in the UK turned to their Travel Management Companies for solutions and they in turn looked to rail in order to keep businesses moving. For eight of the top 10 TMCs in Britain, the first stop was Evolvi’s online rail booking and ticketing fulfilment service. “What’s emerging now is the fantastic job done (and still being done) by TMCs in providing their corporate clients with information and

MOBIQA Mobiqa, the mobile phone ticketing specialist, is providing mobile ticket delivery capabilities to MyTrainTicket.co.uk. By offering the mobile channel as a delivery option, train companies will be able to send customers tickets to their mobile phone instead of passengers needing to print them out at home or in the office, or collecting them from kiosks at the station. MyTrainTicket.co.uk’s mobile tickets are delivered as SMS Web Links, Email Web Links or by MMS and contain a scanna

London’s transport system is, depending on your point of view, either world class or an embarrassment. However, in this new age of austerity, future improvements to the capital’s transport, before schemes already under way, will be few and far between. With this in mind, experts in various disciplines at transport consultancy Colin Buchanan have produced a collection of 10 innovative ideas, that are low cost and deliverable in the short term, for London mayor Boris Johnson and his t

Transport for London has confirmed that it has purchased the Oyster brand from the TranSys ticketing consortium. The move means that TfL now has complete control and ownership of the Oyster brand and will be able to investigate the future potential for Oyster to be extended to new and existing technologies and the commercial opportunities that provides. In August 2008, Transport for London gave notice that it intended to terminate the current Private Finance Initiative contract with the Tra

At present, the situation facing the UK’s public services is akin to a phoney war. Central government spending has continued to rise in an effort to bring the country out of recession, but shortly after the election decisive action will have to be taken to rectify the country’s £170bn budget deficit. To date the government is working on the basis of halving it by 2014. The day when change comes is fast approaching. Over the past year, transport has been one of the beneficiarie

The Department for Transport has announced plans for further changes to the regulatory framework for local bus services in England. The move could lead to a raft of legislation that could see local authorities in England and Wales gaining powers to set maximum bus fares as well as making changes to way bus services are registered. The consultation, Improving Bus Passenger Services Through Regulatory Reform, notes that EU regulations passed in 2007 permit authorities to set maximum fares below t

Scurrilous website Popbitch recently reported a slight flaw in security at one London-based media giant recently. “Want to wander round The Guardian's new super-posh offices but without security clearance?” asked the website’s weekly newsletter. “Why, you can use your Oyster Card! We are told it gets you through about 70% of the gates and entry points. Even better, you don't get charged a fare despite it being in Zone 1.”

Technology is driving the future of travel. The danger is that innovation and the radically new will arrive from an unexpected direction, and potentially completely change the rules of the game. For decades the technology of transport was synonymous with the design, styling and operation of vehicles. And certainly the changing shape of trains, buses and planes was an undeniable feature of the 20th century. But how significant was that part of the mix compared with other less obvious technologi

Train operator East Coast has launched a new business ticket offer in a bid to attract more corporate travellers onto rail between Scotland and London - by offering flexible First Class travel for less than the usual price of a Standard Class open ticket. Competitively priced at £199, the new Scottish Executive Package is 27% cheaper than a Standard Class Anytime return rail fare and 47% less than a First Class Anytime return fare between Edinburgh and London. On the Glasgow Central to L

I was interested to read the last edition of New Transit (February) in which the cover story questioned the levels of communication between local authorities and their transport operators. Partnerships are indeed key to successful project implementation and there are indeed many worthy of mention from around the United Kingdom. One such example is Hertfordshire County Council. HCC became a pilot for greater partnership working between the authority and its local transport operators back in 1999

The current merger discussions between Arriva and French operator Keolis appear certain to kick off a new wave of consolidation in the European passenger transport industry. Whether or not the Arriva/Keolis deal eventually goes ahead, French groups are being actively encouraged to increase their presence on the world stage by their government as restrictions on competition are lifted. The ripples are being felt throughout the European transport industry as a whole. The move towards the long-pr

British passengers in France often admire near seamless integration. Ticketing (often smart) is highly flexible with little cash payment on vehicle. Travellers generally pay for the full journey with no separate payment on transfer between services and modes. Convenient for the user - one transaction: good for society - faster journeys, minimum dwell time at stops, less traffic delay. Contrast with the UK, even London, where full journey tickets are very much the exception. This results from a

London mayor Boris Johnson and senior representatives of the train companies serving Greater London have pledged to continue to work together to improve services for the capital’s rail passengers. At a summit meeting in City Hall on Friday the parties followed up the successful negotiations that saw Oyster ticketing extended to National Rail services by deciding on an agenda for further improvements. It was agreed that: Work will begin this summer to explore opportunities for f

CrossCountry has announced today that it has sold over 76,000 print-at-home ‘e-tickets’ since the rail operator launched the online initiative in November 2008. With over £2m worth of tickets sold, CrossCountry says its e-ticket system highlights the growing importance that technology is playing between the rail industry and its customers. E-tickets now account for 12% of CrossCountry’s overall online ticket sales with 11,000 sold during November and December alone - sho

Hundreds of bus passengers at North Tyneside’s Cobalt Business Park have signed-up to the North East’s first fare free zone which allows them to travel between a number of operators, within the park zone, at no extra cost. The Cobalt FreeZone was devised by Cobalt’s two dedicated travel co-ordinators, Lynn Cramman and Amy Carroll. It is one of a wide range of initiatives introduced at Cobalt to help the 9,000 employees based on site get to and from work in the most cost effec

Bus operators peeved by the recent decision by the Office of Fair Trading to refer local bus services to the Competition Commission may want to take a leaf from Ryanair’s book. Last month, the airline released one million £4 ‘Fingleton Fares’, named after John Fingleton, the chief executive of the OFT, to prove the airline is “the best thing to happen to the British consumer since sliced bread”. Ryanair made the move after the competition chief blasted the

The success of London’s bus network in recent years is well known. Under former mayor Ken Livingstone, between 2000 and 2008 passenger kilometres rose by 74% to reach 7.7bn each year. However, this has come at considerable cost, with operating subsidy for the capital’s bus network rising to £653m in 2007/08, a significant increase on the annual subsidy of £41m in 1999/2000 and well up on the historic lows seen in the mid 1990s. But London’s bus network is about to

Some progress but Europe-wide booking system is shelved The ‘Railteam’ alliance was formed in July 2007 to make train journeys across international borders seamless. The alliance brings together cross-Channel operator Eurostar and the high speed train operators of six European countries - Deutsche Bahn (Germany), SNCF (France), SNCB (Belgium), NS Hispeed (Netherlands), ÖBB (Austria) and SBB (Switzerland). At a press conference at Brussels Midi International station in November

There is no doubt that transport is a major ‘problem child’ in the government’s strategy to counter climate change. It is the only significant sector of the UK economy where CO2 emissions are still growing and now accounts for 21% of all emissions. Reversing this trend will be crucial to meeting the government’s climate change targets for the UK as a whole. By 2020 the target is for UK emissions to have fallen 34% compared to 1990 levels. In 2050, the target is for an 80%

Nexus, the Tyne & Wear PTE, has announced that tickets on the Metro light rail system are to be frozen in 2010, including singles, returns, monthly, annual, child and student fares. The PTE's plans for its ticketing strategy in 2010 were approved yesterday (Thursday) at a meeting of the Tyne & Wear Integrated Transport Authority. The adult Metro single ticket will stay at £1.40, off peak returns stay at £1.90 and the annual MetroSaver pass stays at £450 - offering unl

About 10 years ago, Blackpool realised that its tramway was falling apart, quite literally. The track was knackered, the electrical infrastructure north of Cleveleys had never been touched and the depot infrastructure was tired. The solution? Submit ambitious plans to upgrade into a modern super-tramway with fully accessible contemporary trams, new track and infrastructure. Many high tides later, Blackpool secured the £85m it needs for a full upgrade of the existing tramway, including a fl

We have had the pleasure of powered transport for nearly 200 years now, and of those only the last 60 years have been dominated by explosive growth in car use. In that tiny interval – less than a lifetime - we have managed to increase the CO2 level of the atmosphere by 40%, and burn our way through somewhere between a third and half of global oil reserves, depending on who you believe. Now, not surprisingly, the rest of the world wants to follow our example and get mobile too. Before rec

Transport secretary Lord Adonis has travelled all over the world to discover what Britain can learn from foreign countries. The carbon he has generated while studying low carbon transport initiatives must have melted his own weight in polar ice, but Adonis will be forgiven if he can put what he has learnt to good use and give Britain a better transport system that also produces much less carbon. Perhaps his next trip should be to return to The Netherlands. The Dutch government understands the i

Stagecoach Merseyside has become the first UK bus operator to accept contactless debit and credit card payments on its network following the launch of Mastercard’s PayPass technology on the operator’s 200-strong bus fleet. Vehicles have been fitted with reading equipment that will allow Stagecoach passengers to pay for their tickets using contactless Mastercard debit and credit cards. Stagecoach hopes that the payment technology will speed up boarding times on its services around Li

Transport group Arriva has launched what is the first nationwide roll-out of mobile ticketing technology in the UK as part of a new partnership with Concept Data Technologies. The new service, which will be available on all of Arriva bus routes outside London, will allow passengers to buy daily, weekly and four-weekly tickets via their mobile phones. Arriva has been looking at m-ticketing technologies for some time, even going as far to fit barcode readers to its vehicles on the Fastrack BRT ne

Rail fares will rise by an average of 1.1% in January, well below the expected rate of inflation next year and the lowest increase since privatisation, according to analysis released this week. The figure, published by the Association of Train Operating Companies, when applied to the current average price paid for a single rail journey, would mean the average cost of a train journey will rise by 6p in January from £5.05 to £5.11. The 1.1% rise will be below the rate of RPI inflatio

Arriva has become the first UK transport group to introduce mobile phone ticketing for all its regional bus services outside London. Customers across Arriva’s regional bus businesses in England, Scotland and Wales, are now able to buy daily, weekly and four-weekly tickets via their mobile phones following the national launch of Arriva’s m-ticketing service. Arriva’s introduction of m-ticketing is believed to be the largest deployment of its kind in the world, covering appro

Stagecoach Merseyside will this week launch contactless payment equipment on all 200 of its buses in the region as part of a wider move to equip shops and businesses in Liverpool with the technology. From this week, consumers will be able to use their MasterCard PayPass and Maestro PayPass contactless-enabled credit and debit cards to pay quickly, safely and conveniently across the city. Stagecoach has become the first public transport operator in the UK to offer passengers the chance to us

Whilst I’m all for better public transport, I’m not sure the “Campaign for Better Transport” are helping that much. I refer to CBT’s survey of Britain’s most expensive bus journeys which saw “extortionate bus fares” cast as “Villains” in the September edition of your magazine. It’s easy to find some isolated examples of what seem like expensive bus fares. In my home city of Nottingham, if you were so minded, you could travel less

To a large extent, the performance of major companies reflects the character of their chief executives. This is particularly true in public transport where the men at the top have been instrumental in building their businesses virtually from scratch, and have been part of the leadership team, in some cases chief executive, for decades. Stagecoach, under Brian Souter, has consistently led the industry into new markets and pioneered innovation, sometimes impetuously, sometimes brilliantly. First

The role of flying the flag for genuinely innovative thinking and new practice in British public transport has not had that many takers over the years. Neither the Confederation of Passenger Transport or the Association of Train Operating Companies have been at the forefront of promoting radical thinking, often seemingly held back by their less progressive members, and acting merely as ‘moaning minnies’ for what they feel is a misunderstood sector. That’s not the approach of J

The progress of smart ticketing schemes in the United Kingdom, outside of London’s Oyster card scheme of course, has been slow the say the least. However, integrated smartcard-based ticketing has taken a step forward in Northern Ireland with the commencement of the iLink card by state-owned bus and rail operator Translink. The new system, which was launched last month by Translink chief executive Catherine Mason and Antoinette McKeown, the chief executive of the Consumer Council for North

Mayor of London, Boris Johnson today announced fare rises for London's bus and Tube networks in the face of huge financial pressures on Transport for London. Announcing his plans, the mayor said he had protected free and concessionary fares for London’s elderly, young people and those on low incomes. 40% of bus passengers will continue to travel free or at a substantial concessionary rate and the Freedom Pass will continue to be valid for travel 24hrs a day on all TfL services. Johnson al

Translink, the state-owned Northern Ireland bus and rail operator, today launched iLink, its new integrated smart ticketing system that aims to make using public transport easier. Catherine Mason, Translink's chief executive, explained: “iLink is the first integrated commercial Smartcard for Northern Ireland and is a big step forward in delivering integrated travel solutions for everyone. “It can be purchased for unlimited day, weekly or monthly travel on Metro, NI Railways and Uls

Stagecoach has announced an expansion of its Megabus and Megatrain budget travel brands today. The move sees the introduction of a new cross-country Megabus route between Cardiff and Newcastle, via Birmingham, Manchester and Leeds, and frequency increases on a number of key routes. The expansion also includes improving frequency on routes between Leeds and London, Cardiff and London and Portsmouth and Leeds. Stagecoach has also pledged to operate services on both Christmas Day and New Year's D

Cerdyn Cymru concessionary pass holders are to continue to benefit from free rail travel on a number of Welsh rail routes. Pass holders from Conwy and Gwynedd are to continue to receive free travel facilities on the Conwy Valley Line between Blaenau Ffestiniog and Llandudno. Meanwhile, passholders from Flintshire and Wrexham will continue to enjoy free travel on the Welsh section of the Wrexham to Bidston Line The Cambrian Coast scheme reopens on 4th October 2009 for eligible Gwynedd pass ho

As a proportion of the passenger transport sector, aviation is relatively small. Of the 7.7 billion journeys made by passenger transport in the UK in 2007/08 only 0.3% were made on domestic flights (22 million journeys). With international flights this figure climbs to 200 million journeys a year. However, this is still tiny when compared to the 1.2 billion journeys made each year on the national rail network, the 1.1 billion on the London Underground and the massive 5.1 billion on buses. And

Stagecoach has responded to the launch of FirstGroup's Greyhound express coach service between London and Southampton/Portsmouth by doubling the number of low cost Megatrain.com seats that it has available on its competing South West Trains services. Stagecoach's Megatrain offers budget travel on parts of the South West Trains, East Midlands Trains and Virgin Trains networks. Travellers can use Megatrain to book tickets on selected SWT services between London and Southampton/Portsmouth. From t

It’s a fact that the UK transport industry should be proud of. We are the only country in the world to have an integrated transport ticket that has been created, managed and expanded purely through the private sector. Journey Solutions, the promoter of the PlusBus bus and rail ticket, should be justifiably proud, especially with what has been achieved in recent years. Of course it doesn’t stop here. Journey Solutions commercial director Jonathan Radley bubbles with enthusiasm at wh

Stagecoach Yorkshire have introduced a new travel scheme which aims to cut the amount of tax employees pay on their earnings.   The new Corporate Travel Plan enables staff to agree to a reduction in pay, equal to the cost of an annual season ticket for bus travel. The employer then provides the ticket, with Stagecoach responsible for the administration. a new travel scheme and cut the amount of tax employees pay on their earnings.   It means employees do not pay income tax or Natio

News that the Office of Fair Trading has found evidence that there might, just might, be circumstances in the UK bus industry that creates a tendency to higher fares and contract prices is completely unsurprising; show me an industry in which that is not the case. At a wedding the weekend after the news came out, a distant relation who works in the City commented “for heavens sake, they must have bigger fish to fry”. Of course they have, but they have had a thing about buses for a co

Parkeon’s recently launched range of rail ticket vending machines for the UK market has achieved Rail Settlement Plan approval for its ‘Ticket on Departure’ capability. The accreditation applies to both the Astreo and Galexio machines, enabling passengers who make on-line bookings for train journeys to collect their chosen tickets from the Parkeon machines. “TOD is a key element in the retailing channels being adopted by TOCs and by online rail booking specialists, so t

bus operators across the UK are benefiting from a host of ITSO ticketing solutions that have been developed by Parkeon. Parkeon remains the only ticketing technology company involved in every major ITSO scheme in progress or under development in Britain and the firm recently added a second ticketing platform - the Wayfarer 200 ETM - to its fully certified range of ITSO compliant on-bus systems. The certification is all the more significant because the Wayfarer 200, which is currently being in

It is hard to believe that it is less than a decade since the dark days of Hatfield and the demise of Railtrack. Since then, there has been a significant investment in Britain’s railway network, with a modern fleet of vehicles, a comprehensive national timetable and a raft of new schemes in the planning, including Crossrail and Thameslink. As Network Rail have correctly noted, more passengers are using more services than ever. And now the government has announced the electrification of the

The integrated ticketing strategy needs to send some clear messages that simple, unified and integrated ticketing systems delivered by smartcard are what passengers want and what they should get. Following on from Oyster card in London the next logical step would be to do the next tier of major city regions - which are the Met areas covering a population of 11 million people. Once London and the city regions are covered then you can build from there to cover the whole country. There is now a gol

He should: Publish details of the DfT’s proposed BSOG uplift for operators rolling out ITSO smartcard equipment, removing uncertainty that prevents accelerated investment now. Resolve the current lack of clarity of the relationship between Oyster and ITSO which places doubts in operators’ minds on the future role of ITSO as an industry standard. If ITSO is to remain the standard, simplification, reduced costs and timescales for the ITSO accreditation process would

In today’s economic climate smart ticketing will help people become more discriminating and greener in their use of transport through the choices it enables. It also removes barriers for people seeking jobs and reduces costs by providing transport subsidies only where they are needed. Leadership in UK transport requires finding solutions to challenging problems. A commercially-driven, publicly-committed smart ticketing scheme is an intelligent, measured response to the economic crisis a

ITSO’s open specification is the keystone to interoperable ticketing in the UK. Scheme operators can now source ITSO compliant components from a growing number of suppliers and can build smart systems capable of meeting Lord Adonis’s objective. Lord Adonis’s biggest challenge will be to persuade scheme operators - local authorities and transport operators - that they should “go ITSO smart”.  Smartcard systems are technically complex and don’t come cheap.

How much do you think it would cost to take a family on a return trip by bus from Elgin to Rothes? This journey through rural north east Scotland takes just 15 minutes each way, and yet it costs Stewart Henderson and his family of three an eye-watering £14.80. Ouch! At least Henderson can help restore the family finances with the £50 voucher he has received for winning a competition to find the UK’s most expensive bus fare. His journey with Stagecoach Bluebird beat contenders

At a time when so many people are experiencing financial hardship it is inevitable that there will be increased scrutiny of bus and rail fares. So, there was welcome news in August when the government announced that “the majority of regulated rail fares, including most commuter fares, will fall in January.” This is because train operators are prevented from increasing regulated fares by more than 1% above RPI, and RPI is now -1.4%. Therefore, regulated fares will fall in absolute te

Tyne and Wear PTE Nexus, which owns and manages the Tyne and Wear Metro, has acted to close down a Facebook newsgroup aimed at tracking the movements of its ticket inspectors.   Facebook agreed on August 20 to close down the newsgroup, which had attracted several hundred members in the last two weeks, after Nexus complained that it broke the website’s guidelines.   Nexus is also seeking the closure of two further Facebook newsgroups which contain malicious comments and threat

Bus and rail watchdog Passenger Focus has welcomed the news that New Year rail fares are expected to fall by 0.4% in line with the July inflation figure (-1.4%), however, together with Liberal Democrat transport spokesman Norman Baker, have warned that this won't stop operators "clawing back" money by other means. While the watchdog also welcomed the removal of train companies’ flexibility to raise some fares by five points more than the average, PF director Ashwin Kumar said:

Passenger Focus has criticised plans by First Great Western to introduce new restrictions on its cheapest off-peak tickets which will mean many passengers travelling to and from London will see their fares rise by 20%. On September 6, FGW will replace its Off-Peak ticket with a new Super Off-Peak fare at the same price but with much tighter time restrictions.  A 20% more expensive Off-Peak fare will be introduced to cover times excluded by the new Super Off-Peak rules.  Off-Peak singl

Concessionary fares are proving to be an overwhelming success but senior citizens and disabled passengers have concerns about using their pass outside their local area. Bus passengers across England, including those who don’t hold a pass, have thrown their support behind the concessionary fares scheme which gives free travel to passengers aged 60 and over and passengers with an eligible disability. Passenger Focus has now published its full results looking at England-wide concessionary b

Passenger Focus has lent its support to the parliamentary transport select committee's findings on fares and franchising. The committee today published a report that branded the current rail franchising process "a mess", and called on the government to act over recent fare increases, service reductions and staff cuts within the industry. Anthony Smith, Passenger Focus chief executive, said: “Passengers tell us in no uncertain terms that they find the fares and ticketing syste

First ScotRail and Atos Origin have signed a new deal that will see the technology firm’s AVANTIX Mobile portable ticketing product rolled out across the Scottish train operators business. AVANTIX Mobile’s capabilities are well established in the industry with the system processing over 50 million transactions in 2008. The ScotRail contract calls for an enhanced version of the product with additional functionality including faster ticket printing to enable more sales on busy trains;

Few people better embody the ethos of a consummate passenger transport professional than Giles Fearnley. Confident and impressive on the national stage, dealing with big picture business and policy issues, he is also entirely at home at the grassroots level, delivering high quality services attuned to needs of local communities. He is unassuming when asked how he thinks he got to this status, and his new engagement as the first chairman of the Confederation of Passenger Transport - a unique rol

In late June transport secretary Lord Adonis announced that £5m of funding was to be provided to 10 rail terminals to enable them to upgrade their bicycle facilities. The list of the 10 stations to benefit from this cash is due to be announced later this summer. This announcement came less than one week after the government and public transport operators had launched their national station travel plans initiative. 24 pilot plans encompassing 31 stations across the country will, it is ho

Are we on the verge of a new era of collaborative partnership between transport operators and local authorities prompted by the 2008 Local Transport Act? Or a greater focus on ensuring that local transport provision is characterised by much more head-to-head competitive activity between different providers? It’s as clear as mud! Weary observers of the scene point to a long running stand off between two government agencies. The Department for Transport advocates integrated transport and co

Bus Users UK has reiterated its call for a simplified system of concessionary travel for over 60s and disabled people, as the Department for Transport is consulting on the best way to administer the scheme. The organisation said that many consider that the current system of reimbursement through 263 lower-tier local authorities is unwieldy, leads to inconsistencies and is confusing both for users and for drivers. Assuming the current system is maintained, Bus Users UK would prefer to see

London mayor Boris Johnson's office and Transport for London has responded to the London Assembly Budget and Performance Committee's report on fares. The Assembly report looks at the potential level of TfL's fares for 2010 and in subsequent years, and asserts that TfL is facing a shortfall of £112m this year due to lower than projected fares revenue. However, the mayor's office has said this is not a new projection and the £112m was taken in to account when TfL's budget for 2009/

London’s transport network could face £1.7billion funding gap by 2018, caused by the effects of the recession, the London Assembly has today warned. The Assembly’s Budget and Performance Committee says likely negative inflation in July 2009 will mean the London mayor Boris Johnson will have to either freeze or reduce fares in 2010 in line with the formula (RPI + 1%) he committed himself to last year.  Reductions in passenger numbers mean TfL is already facing a shor

Britain is the first country in Europe offering bus and train travellers an online ‘one-stop-shop’ for purchase of integrated journey ticket, according to a ‘Door-to-door by public transport’ conference in London, addressed by new transport secretary Lord Andrew Adonis.   From this week, a number of transport ticketing websites, including qjump.co.uk and tpexpress.co.uk, offer customers purchasing train tickets the opportunity to add PLUSBUS to their order, enablin

The Integrated Smart Card Organisation is engaged with the future structure of the organisation and recently invoked an EGM to resolve it. Irrespective of the outcome, focus needs to move to the bigger and more detailed questions of ensuring the environment, and not just the specification, is configured to deliver what it set out to do 10 years ago – full interoperability. Over the past few years MVA has been at the forefront of work with many of the UK’s smart card schemes. Most of

GERMAN technology firm INIT is implementing an innovative high-technology ticketing system for four regional bus companies owned by DB Stadtverkehr in Bavaria. As part of the package, INIT is also supplying its multi-client fleet management system MOBILE-ITCS, with which more than 3,000 vehicles will soon be controlled by a single standardized system. The ticketing element of the package, which uses the sophisticated EVENDpc system, combines a ticket printer with on-board computer functionality

Recently I was in Gothenburg for a transport conference. I had been there 16 years ago (in connection with the then looming rail privatisation), but what had really stuck in my mind from that visit was how extensive were the lightly-physically segregated tram lanes throughout the city, especially in the central area. Even more significantly the central area ones in particular were shared with buses. Cycles were provided for – but in separate lanes, often shared with local access traffic.

Bidding to retain any rail franchise has its own peculiar pressures, and in the case of Govia’s attempt to keep its South Central contract, they were among the most intense. The competition may not have had the make or break feel that retaining South West Trains did for Stagecoach or Great Western for First, but it was not far off. South Central is the biggest single money spinner for Go Ahead, Govia’s 65% majority shareholder, and failure to retain it would have meant the group fac

M&S: Price cuts and brand protection Last year, as the severity of the recession became apparent, Marks & Spencer chief executive Sir Stuart Rose acted rapidly to position M&S as a company which would help customers during tough times. This was a difficult trick for it to pull off as its brand has long been associated with premium quality rather than price. However, a succession of high profile, and sustained promotions, have begun to alter perceptions. The campaign started with th

While the overambitious franchise bids made by some train operators have undoubtedly contributed to the severity of fare increases and surcharges passengers are facing, government policy has also played a significant part by limiting operators’ freedom to promote their services. The Department for Transport’s reluctance to renegotiate the Ticketing and Settlement Agreement regulations has severely constrained operators’ ability to freely promote rail travel to non-users and oc

Bus operators have pretty much a clear hand on what they do with fares, but critics say they are still taking a very formulaic view on the subject. FirstGroup has been accused of an ill-judged strategy in West Yorkshire which could damage the long term prospects of the business in the quest for maintaining short-term profitability. Two consecutive 8% fare rises were implemented last year followed by service cuts of 20-25% as the recession has taken hold. Based on research from consultancy TRL a

The past year’s economic mayhem has been wreaking havoc with the business plans and expectations of many industries. Banks have gone bust, long standing retailers collapsed, and the car industry has seen its volumes decimated and its economic base left untenable. Responding to the consumer recession and falling demand is undoubtedly a massive challenge for businesses, but sometimes it can also be an opportunity for companies to act creatively to build brand loyalty and strengthen their pos

In the midst of a recession passenger transport operators are wise to be aware that their pricing policy has to be sensitive to consumers’ economic circumstances and expectations of what represents good value. There are not many situations in which a significant fares hike could be justified and even accepted as reasonable by passengers. Here’s one Train company Southeastern are in the lucky position to have both been given permission by government to put fares up by 35% and to have

Omnibuses 2.0: New era dawned Electronic ticket machines have been with us for 30 years. Given Wayfarer of Poole was within Hants & Dorset ’s area, it’s not surprising that the National Bus Company chose H&D to trial the early Wayfarer ETM. The rest, as they say, is history... Click here to open the Omnibuses 2.0 story in another window

Ministers have defied warnings that the flagship scheme of national free bus travel for over-60s is over budget and may have to be restricted in the future, by moving to extend eligibility to young injured veterans. An official report by a review body set up by the Scottish Government warns that the scheme, with a budget hitting nearly £200m, could prove difficult to sustain in the long term, given its popularity among Scotland's ageing population, and that increasing the eligibility ag

The government's financial exposure to the rail industry could worsen amid predictions that a shortfall in fare sales could cost taxpayers up to £400m in the next two years. The Department for Transport is obliged to cover a proportion of train operators' losses if their revenues are below target, with some of Britain's biggest commuter franchises among those entitled to taxpayer support. According to analysis by stockbroker Blue Oar Securities, franchises could receive £100m f

ScotRail will begin to trial the smartcard tickets among their staff members later this month, with Season Ticket holders travelling between Edinburgh and Glasgow first in line to try them in the autumn.       It plans to test up to 10,000 tickets and the technology over the next two years before any extension of use on other services. Unlike traditional magnetic-stripe tickets, smartcard tickets do not need to be put through a reader at station gates. 

Watchdog censures ticketing firm Trainline.com's TV adverts portraying rail users who buy tickets at stations as sheep. A high-profile TV advertising campaign by the ticketing firm Trainline.com, promising big discounts and portraying rail users who buy tickets at train stations as sheep, has been banned by the advertising watchdog for exaggerating the amount that can be saved online. The TV and poster campaign, developed by ad agency Delaney Lund Knox Warren, featured sheep queueing for t

It is "unacceptable" that low-cost rail fares are easily available only to those with internet access, MPs say. The House of Commons Public Accounts Committee said people without use of the internet or time to search should have the same access to low fares. The MPs also said government plans to bring 1,300 new carriages into service by 2014 looked "over-optimistic"... Click here to open the original BBC News story in a new window

A government transport minister is being tackled over the £2m cost of pensioners' free bus passes in Torbay tomorrow. Torbay Council says it is expecting the cost of the free passes for the over 60s to soar to £4m for 2008 and 2009. The final total will depend on the figures from the bus companies. The council is expecting to be £2m out of pocket for providing free travel for some 33,000 pensioners and disabled travellers...

Nostalgia, they say, ain’t what it used to be. I was going to write a heavyweight piece on the oppressive weight of regulation on the industry but I was struck by a coincidence of anniversaries the other weekend, and so have changed my plan. You probably picked up on three anniversaries over the recent holiday weekend. Without doubt the most important was the 30th anniversary of the last episode of Fawlty Towers, that monument of British television comedy.  Probably better preser

Like many other senior transport professionals of his generation, Nick Brown started his working life as a BR management trainee. But the way his career has developed since then has given him a truly unique perspective on the transport industry, its development and the difficulties it currently faces. At National Express Group, Brown’s CV included spells as managing director of train operating companies Midland Mainline, Central Trains and ScotRail. However, the predictable element of his

2008 was something of an Annus Horribilis for Lothian Buses. After a golden 10-year period, which saw significant fleet investment, innovation in new products and a 40% growth in patronage that culminated in Lothian scooping the prestigious UK Bus Operator of the Year award in 2007, a culmination of factors made life increasingly fraught for the council-owned firm. Such were the problems that the respected municipal took the drastic step of making fleet reductions and service cuts as a result

The Association of Train Operating Companies has called on the government to be more honest about the reason for large increases in rail fares. Chief executive Michael Roberts said that the Department for Transport’s repeated portrayal of fares as a commercial matter for train operators was disingenuous and could only harm the industry’s reputation. Given that it is explicit DfT policy to ensure that fares fund 75% of the industry’s cost rather than 50% at present, Roberts sai

Translink under fire as Northern Ireland bus and rali fares to rise by at least 2%. Bus and rail prices will increase on average by 2% this month. From May 18 the fares will rise by some 2% on Metro and local Ulsterbus and 3% on Northern Ireland Railways local fares. Operator Translink faced public anger after announcing increases last month... Click here to open the original Belf

A train operator is to begin charging passengers for reserving a seat. National Express is to charge £2.50 for reserving a single, or £5 for a return ticket, from this weekend on its East Coast and East Anglia franchises. The Transport Salaried Staffs Association said the move was "outrageous" and warned it could spark abuse against booking office staff... Click here to open the original BBC story in a new window

New USA website BusJunction.com compares tickets and amenities like onboard Wi-Fi across 12 premium bus lines. Intercity bus travel has taken off in the last few years. Now a new Web site makes it easier for riders to find their routes. BusJunction.com works something like Expedia or Orbitz in the way it helps travelers find their way in a crowded market. But unlike those two popular airfare Web sites, BusJunction doesn't sell tickets; it steers its users right to the online ticketing o

Torbay, Exeter and Plymouth Councils short-changed over concessionary bus fares reimbursement. Free-wheeling bus users are causing a multi-million pound headache for Westcountry councils after government mistakes over the hugely popular free bus pass. Angry councils in Torbay, Exeter and Plymouth have been left short-changed by Whitehall after not being given enough money to pay for the off-peak travel scheme for the over-60s in England, which has just celebrated its first birthday...

STATISTICS published by Transport for London show that demand for travel continued to grow in the third quarter of 2008/09, albeit at a slower rate and generally below budgeted levels. The report shows that 830 million journeys were made on the TfL network during the quarter, 2.8% more than in the same quarter last year. The London Underground network carried 265 million passenger journeys, which represented growth of 1.5% over last year, but this fell 2.4 million below the target for the quar

Since it became fully ITSO approved over 12 months’ ago, the almex.mobile ticketing machine is still the only unit of its kind in the UK market to boast such a prestigious credential. And why?  Because Almex believe it is still some years ahead in its development due to the R&D expertise and experience of its parent company Hoeft & Wessel. The almex.mobile gained its draft certification in December 2007 to allow Almex UK, one of Europe’s leading ticketing system specia

Corporate travel buyers are increasingly turning to rail - and specifically to online booking systems - to manage the cost of UK business travel and to drive up productivity. Investment by train operating companies in technologies such as WiFi, mobile phone connectivity and quiet carriages, has helped to boost corporate rail travel dramatically over the last few years as business travellers look to optimise their journey times. To meet this demand, Evolvi, the leading online business rail book

The introduction of free concessionary bus travel in England has seen 35% of pass holders admit that they are using their free travel entitlement for journeys outside their local area that they would otherwise have made by car. The findings of research conducted by  Passenger Focus were disclosed last week at the watchdog’s annual conference in London, which also marked the adoption of its new bus and coach passenger remit in shadow form. The survey looked at passenger perspectives

Pensioners cannot be given a "blank cheque" to travel on buses for free, a transport industry leader has warned. Keith Ludeman, chief executive of the Go-Ahead Group that runs more than 3,400 buses across the country, says councils are struggling to fully reimburse bus companies for the free travel scheme that was introduced a year ago. Some companies have complained they receive less than half the fare charged to paying passengers from local authorities and are now considering

The bus subsidy debate is hotting up, not only in these columns but more importantly in stakeholder advisory group meetings buried away deep in the department in Great Minster Street. That the Treasury is behind much of the current pressure for reform is beyond doubt, however that the current proposals are such an unworkable mess is the responsibility of the department itself. But the question we have all failed to debate is why it is that buses should be subsidised anyway. For decades the indu

I have had a thing about good grammar since it was drummed into me by my teacher father when I was a rising five. So when is a “criterion” a “criteria”? Answer - never. When is Network Rail’s Licence a “license”? Answer - it isn’t except when the infrastructure operator is “licensing” a third party to undertake repairs. The most irritating example of deteriorating grammar is the commonly used “practise” when “practice&

Rail minister Andrew Adonis has indicated that rail fares could fall in January. In evidence to the Commons transport committee last week he dismissed speculation that the RPI+1% formula for regulated fare rises could be relaxed to prevent a fall and protect train operators’ revenue. Adonis said that the consensus of independent forecasters was that inflation will be significantly negative in July, when January 2010 regulated fare levels are set, and this would lead to a fall in rail far

ALMEX has achieved a milestone in the UK with its latest state-of-the-art ticket printing equipment. The Swindon-based ticket equipment supplier has now taken orders as well as implementing more than 4000 ITSO certified ticketing machines into the UK transport industry - achieved in less than three years. “This firmly places Almex at the leading edge of ITSO compliant revenue control systems,” said Alistair Aitken, Almex sales manager. “Sales into public transport operators

Parkeon, the automatic fare collection specialist, has added a second ticketing platform to its fully certified range of ITSO compliant on-bus ticket systems. The company has just received confirmation that the Wayfarer 200 ticket technology has achieved full certification to the ITSO standard, building on the accreditation already held for the Wayfarer 150 ETM. “This is excellent news for the Parkeon engineers who have worked so hard to achieve this certification -but more importantly i

Evolvi Rail Systems, the leading online business rail booking and ticketing specialist, has unveiled a record 47% increase in revenue for 2008. The company, which partners with eight of the top 10 corporate travel management companies in the UK, grew its rail business from £150m to £220m in the last 12 months on the back of major contract gains and renewals. Among the latest successes was the selection by the Home Office of Evolvi self-booking rail reservation and ticketing functio

“Record passenger satisfaction scores in the latest National Passenger Survey is good news and evidence that the rail industry is moving in the right direction. Season-by-season, year-on-year train companies are getting better at running services on time and more passengers are consequently choosing to travel by train.  The rail industry takes NPS scores seriously and uses the results to identify areas where services need to be improved. Our research team and passenger managers are

A new briefing document issued by the Local Government Association has lifted the lid on  the scale of concessionary travel grant shortfalls around England. The report has been produced in the wake of the government’s planned review of the scheme’s operation. It reveals that the Isle of Wight Council is facing a shortfall in its scheme of £4.2m, the equivalent of 3.2% of the council’s total revenue expenditure budget. The city of Exeter faces a shortfall of £

Train operators could be forced to reduce rail fares next year, according to today’s Guardian. Investment bank Investec is predicting RPI could sink to -2.1% in July 2009. Since regulated fares – which account for more than half of all tickets sold - may not increase by more than 1% above inflation, financial analyst Joseph Thomas claims ticket prices could be reduced by more than 1% in January 2010. Earlier this month, the Association of Train Operating Companies (ATOC) was defe

January It was a difficult start to 2008 for Network Rail. The infrastructure controller came under fire after engineering works over Christmas and New Year overran by several days. It coincided with the company’s chairman, Sir Ian McAllister, being awarded a knighthood in the Queen’s New Year’s Honours List. The auction of Laing Rail concludes with Deutsche Bahn agreeing to pay fund manager Henderson a very full price of around £130m, so securing th

The Association of Train Operating Companies has defended inflation-busting fare rises, seeking to play down the scale of the increases and pointing out that travelling by train remains cheaper than by car. The defence was mounted in response to anger from passenger and environmental groups, who claimed increases averaging 6% for regulated peak tickets and 7% for off-peak leisure and business travel were unjustified and out of touch with the current economic climate. In the north of England wh

Passenger Focus chief executive Anthony Smith has criticised fare rises averaging 6%, which come into effect today. The national rail watchdog says steep rises on individual routes are masked by the average figures published by the industry and has called on the Government and train companies to discuss limiting the extent to which regulated fares can increase. Regulated fares increases are based on last summer's rate of inflation.  Average unregulated fares increases range from 5% on Me

Transport minister Geoff Hoon has announced that the government plans to increase the Bus Service Operator’s Grant to reflect the 2p duty increase that chancellor Alistair Darling revealed in his pre-budget report. However, Hoon also revealed that there will be no further increases to BSOG until April 2010 when long mooted reforms to the £450m subsidy to operators will take place. From then BSOG rates will be uprated for those operators who have achieved an improvement in fuel effic

There is no doubt that the role of the railway station and the emphasis placed on it is changing in the eyes of the rail industry. Yes, its primary and most basic function is for passengers to get on and off trains, but for many of the speakers at the Transit UK Rail Stations 2008 conference last week, the station is or should be much more than that:? a gateway to a city, to a community; a retail hub; a stress-free environment where people want to linger, meet, and shop - in a move that transcen

Bus operators have reacted with anger to chancellor Alistair Darling’s Pre-Budget Report which revealed increases to fuel duty and plans to reform the way the Bus Service Operator’s Grant is distributed to them. Although the chancellor cut VAT from 17.5% to 15%, this has been offset by an increase in fuel duty from this week by 2p a litre.  Darling also announced further increases with a 1.84p per litre rise next April and a further 0.5p increase in April 2010. Operators have

CrossCountry has become the first UK rail operator to offer passengers the option to buy and collect tickets over the internet on all its routes.   Cutting out additional trips to the station and the need to queue, the e-tickets are printed off at home, and presented to station and onboard staff. Advanced tickets can be purchased online 24-hours any day up to 6pm the day before departure.   “The new e-ticket facility is fantastic news for our customers," said David Watki

CrossCountry has become the first UK rail operator to offer passengers the option to buy and collect tickets over the internet on all its routes.   Cutting out additional trips to the station and the need to queue, the e-tickets are printed off at home, and presented to station and onboard staff. Advanced tickets can be purchased online 24-hours any day up to 6pm the day before departure.   “The new e-ticket facility is fantastic news for our customers," said David Watki

The Association of Train Operating Companies has been criticised for its increase of rail fares, to kick in next year, at a time of economic hardship. ATOC last week announced that regulated fares, such as season tickets and longer distance, off-peak fares which are capped by government would rise by 6% (based on the July 2008 RPI of 5%, plus 1%) January 2. Unregulated fares - most leisure and advance fares, will rise by varying amounts, according to train operator, with the network average of

Stagecoach-owned South West Trains has started the first public trials of the Department for Transport’s national rail smartcard. The project is taking place on a small self-contained part of the network between Windsor and Staines, and is limited to season ticket holders. Passengers are being given a discount to encourage them to take part. The system has already been used by staff for several weeks to test the reliability of the cards, validators and back office equipment. The public tr

Transport for London this week announced the agreement of a new contract for the future management and development of the Oyster card system and other ticketing services. Six million Oyster cards are in use across London’s transport network. The deal sees ownership of the Oyster brand pass to TfL ensuring that passengers will continue to have Oyster in their pockets for years to come. TfL claims that the deal will deliver great value for money over the coming years. The new arrangement i

Transport for London today announced the agreement of a new contract for the future management and development of the Oyster card system and other ticketing services that it says will deliver great value for money over the coming years. The deal will also see ownership of the Oyster brand pass to TfL ensuring that Londoners and visitors to the city will continue to be able to use Oyster cards in the years to come. The Oyster ticketing system will also be available if required for the 2012 Gam

Transport for London today announced the agreement of a new contract for the future management and development of the Oyster card system and other ticketing services that it says will deliver great value for money over the coming years. The deal will also see ownership of the Oyster brand pass to TfL ensuring that Londoners and visitors to the city will continue to be able to use Oyster cards in the years to come. The Oyster ticketing system will also be available if required for the 2012 Gam

Stagecoach-owned East Midlands Trains believes that revenue lost from ticketless travel at its main regional stations is at least 10% and could be significantly higher. Managing director Tim Shoveller told Transit that surveys at Sheffield had consistently shown total revenue lost by operators using the station was “well into double digits” with one exercise indicating losses as high as 30%. He added that at Nottingham and Derby lost revenue was also 10%-plus.  Shoveller sai

The last few years have been a period of running hard to stand still for Dublin Bus. Significant investment in no less than 11 Quality Bus Corridors has shifted the modal balance, but  gains in passenger numbers have largely been wiped out by the completion of rail projects. The company believes it lost 10 million annual passenger journeys to the Luas light-rail system, which opened in 2004. Heavy-rail improvements have had less of an impact, because they serve relatively distant communiti

Dick Fearn has come full circle in his career. British Rail was a homogenous entity when he joined it in 1973. He experienced at first hand sectorisation, shadow franchising, franchising, Railtrack’s rise and fall, and Network Rail’s formation. Now he relishes working in a vertically integrated railway again. Irish Rail remains nationalised, without separation of train operation from infrastructure. Fearn moved from Network Rail to become Irish Rail’s chief operating officer i

Stagecoach and GMPTE have teamed up to in Manchester to introduce on-street solar-powered ticket machines, produced by Parkeon, as part of a 12-month trial. Around £80,000 is being invested in the project, which will make it even easier for customers to buy tickets in advance, speeding up boarding and helping services run on time. Commenting on the trial, Mark Threapleton, Stagecoach Manchester’s managing director, said: “We have chosen some of the busiest bus stops in Manche

Stagecoach is to launch on-bus debit and credit card payment on Merseyside next year in a new 12-month trial of contactless ‘PayPass’ payment technology. The trial, which the Perth-based group is undertaking in collaboration with the Royal Bank of Scotland and Mastercard, will see readers installed on 200 buses. The partners say the technology will allow passengers to make fast, convenient and safe payments simply by tapping their card on a dedicated reader. The PayPass system allo

London Midland has made a commitment that 20% of journeys on its services will be made with smartcard tickets by 2012, rising to 50% by January 2014. However, passengers on the franchise’s major routes from the West Midlands to London are expected to be the last to benefit from smart ticketing because of ongoing disputes between Transport for London and the Department for Transport over funding to make TfL’s Oyster system and London Midland’s DfT-sponsored ITSO card compatible

New ticketing technology coupled with relaxation of restrictions on use of discounted tickets could hold the key to improving the rail industry’s stubbornly low value for money rating, the Association of Train Operating Companies believes. Speaking at the Transit-sponsored Mobile Generation conference last week, ATOC head of fares Andy Wakeford said he could foresee a situation in the medium term where passengers can choose to board trains at will without buying a ticket. Tracking their m

The announcement of the question that voters will be asked in the forthcoming referendum into Greater Manchester’s Transport Innovation Fund proposals has ignited criticism from opponents to the congestion charging element of the plans. The government announced the award of £3bn of TIF funding for public transport improvements earlier this year. This will see Manchester’s Metrolink light rail system significantly expanded and improvements to bus and rail services. However, mor

Transport for London is considering upgrading its Oyster smartcard with new types of ticketing technology which it believes will be more convenient for passengers. At a meeting of the London Assembly’s Budget and Performance Committee, Will Judge, head of future ticketing at TfL, said he was examining new technologies which could be implemented from 2010 when Transys’s contract to supply Oyster will be terminated. Options being examined include technology which will allow London&rsq

Has free travel killed park and ride? Anyone remember that new Labour pledge of “100 new park and ride sites by 2010”? It will perhaps come as little surprise that progress towards this very challenging target, is behind schedule. Is it a lack of funding, have all the obvious sites been developed or has there been any other external factor at play that has changed our attitude to park and ride? In fairness, the period 2001 to 2006 saw 51 new sites open - below the target of 60. To k

Transport for London have now extended the use of Oyster pay as you go on all First Great Western stations in London. Following an announcement in May by London mayor, Boris Johnson, of such a deal between Transport for London and First Great Western, Oyster PAYG  is now accepted on FGW services into Paddington from West Drayton, Hayes & Harlington, Southall, Hanwell, West Ealing, Acton Main Line, South Greenford, Castle Bar Park and Drayton Green. “This is excellent news for F

Greater manchester PTE is to install 200 new touch-screen ticket machines on the Metrolink network over the next three years as part of a £5.4m project. 121 of the machines will be installed at the existing Metrolink stops, replacing all of the ticket machines on the network. Another 108 will be installed on the new lines to Oldham and Rochdale, Droylsden in Tameside, Chorlton in South Manchester and MediaCityUK in Salford Quays. Up to five machines will be installed at each stop, with at

The introduction of free concessionary travel is fueling significant bus patronage growth, delegates attending the Transit-supported The National Concessionary Fares Scheme:?Six Months On conference heard. Caroline Green, the senior policy consultant at the Local Government Association said that the start of nationwide free travel in England earlier this year had already resulted in a 20% increase in trips, but “in some areas this is much higher”. She said that in Devon there had

The Department for Transport is looking at restructuring the way in which funds for England’s concessionary fares scheme are distributed in response to widespread criticism of the scheme. Speaking at the Transit-supported The National Concessionary Fares Scheme:?Six Months On conference in London this week, Richard Brude, the DfT’s head of concessionary travel, admitted that although changes may be made in 2011, it was unlikely that additional funding would be available to increase

It’s a truism that to achieve our aspirations as a leading country in a global economy, efficient public transport is critical. Ultimately our transport networks will succeed or fail to deliver their potential by virtue of their ability to deliver customer convenience, an arbiter of customer choice. Encouraging customers to choose public transport has become more focussed with the environmental challenge to reduce our carbon footprint by 2020. This is made harder against a growing tran

Transys has been told by Transport for London that its £100m-a-year contract to run London’s Oyster card system will be terminated five years early. The contract was due to run until 2015 but TfL is exercising a break option to cancel it in 2010. Six million Oyster cards are in use across London’s transport network. In a statement, mayor Boris Johnson and TfL said they were convinced that any future contracts will deliver enhanced services for less money. “The mayor

A Dutch judge has ruled that details of how to copy Transport for London’s Oyster smart card system can be published by a team of researchers from a university in the Netherlands. The ruling overturns an injunction granted in June after the academics demonstrated how to copy cards and ride for free on the capital’s transport system. The team now plans to publish the details of their research in September. The weaknesses centre on the  Mifare Classic chip within each card

Five hundred public transport users in London this week began a six-month trial of a new mobile phone that incorporates Oyster ticketing technology. Transport for London and TranSys, the consortium that delivers the Oyster smartcard, have joined forces with mobile phone company O2 to trial the mobile handset. The ‘O2 wallet’ phones incorporate Oyster technology, allowing them to be used to pay for travel across London. Since its launch in 2003, more than 10 million cards have b

The new East Midlands franchise will launch megatrain services early in the New Year with managing director Tim Shoveller billing the initiative as a key way of competing with car travel and bringing in new business. Around 3,500 megatrain seats will be available each week for journeys to London from Sheffield, Chesterfield, Derby, Nottingham, Loughborough and Leicester. Shoveller said fares, starting at £1.50, would enable his company to attract a market that does not normally travel

Almex, the transport ticketing division of Höft & Wessel, has added its Almex Mobile to the list of products certified by ITSO.  Successfully winning more than 50% of the systems to be implemented in the Scottish Concessionary Scheme, the Optima and its associated family of products are enjoying the supplementary features that Höft & Wessel are adding.  Autostage Advance, Local Schedule Adherence, Vehicle Defect Reporting and Driver Bulletin Systems have all been

Eurostar has made seamless travel from the UK to mainland Europe easier, with the introduction of integrated through fares from its website www.eurostar.com. The high-speed international train operator has announced that passengers from 68 towns and cities across Britain can now buy through fares to a range of destinations, including Paris, Disneyland Resort Paris, Brussels, any station in Belgium, and 75 connecting destinations in France, through its website. The site has now been linke

Rising fuel costs have forced bus operator Go North East to increase the prices of some of its fares, but has also launched a campaign to highlight how its fares compete with increasing motoring costs. Since last week, the Go Ahead-owned operator has increased the price of its BuzzFare and Get Around faresaver tickets due to continuing increases in the cost of fuel. The increases come at a time when Go North East is looking to increase its fuel efficiency by putting all its 1,700 drivers

The new website launched by National Express for its East Coast intercity operation has been awarded a top five-star rating from the UK’s best selling internet magazine. The review in the latest issue of Web User magazine praises the website’s ease of use, ticket searching options and new lowest fare finder tool, “making rail travel easier than ever”, and names the website as its ‘Site of the Fortnight’. It also highlights new features such as the option

It was 12 months ago when Journey Solutions began to re-energise and build the momentum of its innovative Plusbus combined bus and rail ticket, with a relaunch that aimed to increase public awareness and boost sales. Such has been the success of the scheme, which this year is likely to see sales top 150,000, that it was recently awarded the prestigious IRU Eurochallenge award, amongst widespread interest in the scheme from across Europe. “Winning the award proves that we are doing some

SOLENT BLUE Line this week axed its Red Rocket branded services in Eastleigh citing continuing poor financial performance, including inadequate funding from Eastleigh Borough Council’s concessionary fares scheme. Three of the network’s six routes have been axed, with two being covered in part by existing Solent Blue Line and sister company Wilts &?Dorset services. However, Red Rocket route A is being picked up by Black Velvet Travel, former Solent Blue Line director Phil?Stock

BUS?OPERATORS in the West Midlands have raised serious concerns about concessionary travel reimbursement rates after the new England-wide concessionary travel scheme is introduced on April 1. Both National?Express West Midlands, the newly rebranded former Travel West Midlands business, and Go?Ahead subsidiary Diamond Bus are unhappy with most of Centro-WMPTA’s plans for how they will be reimbursed for accepting concessionary pass holders beyond the start of April. Centro chief executive

Arriva has launched a trial of the latest m-ticketing technology at its flagship Kent Fastrack bus operation. The Sunderland-based group is the first UK bus operator to adopt third generation mobile commerce technology to enable the purchase of bus tickets from a mobile handset. It allows passengers not only to pre-purchase barcode style m-tickets through their mobile phone, but also to automatically verify their tickets using on-board scanners. Arriva is looking for people who use the

First group has responded to competition from Stagecoach’s Megabus.com coach service in the United States with the launch of its own rival BoltBus offering. Centred on New York, the new Boltbus service aims to combine extremely low fares of just $1 with high quality service, including leather seats, extra leg room, free Wi-Fi and power outlets. Aberdeen-based First became the main operator of inter-city coach services in North America last year when it acquired the iconic Greyhound o

When it comes to the rail industry, revenue management is a thorny issue. Unlike airlines, which have been using advanced revenue management tools for years, train operators have a social and economic role, subsidised by government, to consider alongside their commercial targets. Senior railway executives have long observed that this makes pricing a far more sensitive issue than in either purely privatised industries or purely nationalised services. The social and commercial elements of the rail

Wayfarer Transit Systems has launched a range of eco-friendly, off-bus ticket machines - the first new Wayfarer branded product line to emerge as a result of the company joining the Parkeon Group. The solar-powered Wayfarer Sprint is installed alongside bus stops and is designed to speed up boarding times by enabling passengers to buy tickets in advance of journeys using either cash, credit cards with chip and pin or stored value smartcards. The new range is not only solar-powered, which m

Concept Data Technologies based in Mayfield, East Sussex, has developed a range of mobile ticketing solutions for the mass transit market. These m-ticketing solutions are unique within the UK and European market and provide passengers with a simple, secure, fast and low cost solution for purchasing bus, rail and airline tickets directly from their mobile phones. The purchase of a ticket from the mobile phone is done directly from a menu-based application on the user’s mobile phone and i

FREE NATIONWIDE off-peak concessionary bus travel across England was launched last week with claims from some of those entitled that they have still not received their pass. Problems have been reported in Cheshire, East Anglia and Sussex  after Euclid, a Hampshire-based company which has produced many of the passes, had problems with a third party mailing company failing to distribute many of the passes on time. Euclid’s difficulties were compounded by a delay in Whitehall issui

The Association of Train Operating Companies has set out a programme to simplify rail ticketing by placing the wide array of current ticket types into three categories with easy-to-understand names. The new fare categories will make it simpler for passengers to choose tickets when planning their journey and are designed to enable them to buy the best value ticket more easily. The programme will start on May 18 with the large variety of advance purchase tickets being condensed into one tic

Transport Secretary Ruth Kelly has asked Passenger Focus to research whether train operators’ plans for simpler pricing and a Price Promise to sell the cheapest available ticket will address passengers’ concerns over the complexity of rail fares and the perception that operators ‘hide’ the cheapest deals. The research, which will be completed by the end of July, will examine whether this month’s rationalisation of rail fares into three products - Advance, Anytime

Plans to introduce congestion charging in Greater Manchester have been hit by the defeat of Irlam councillor Roger Jones in last week’s the local elections. Jones, who was chairman of the Greater Manchester Passenger Transport Authority, has been the figurehead of the road pricing scheme, which would provide £3bn of investment for public transport from the government’s Transport Innovation Fund if it gets the green light. His high profile support for the plan is thought t

A new report suggests that the government is short-changing bus operators for carrying pensioners and disabled people for free. It claims that the methodology for calculating what compensation bus operators are due is flawed. Britain’s biggest bus operators have grown increasingly frustrated by the Department for Transport’s handling of the introduction of free travel for pensioners and disabled people. Two major groups have considered applying for a judicial review of concessiona

Roger Jones, the recently deposed chair of Greater Manchester PTA, is to report property developer Peel Holdings for allegedly flouting electoral rules by swaying voters against him. Jones lost his seat in the local elections earlier this month, annulling his role as chair of GMPTA (Transit May 9). His high-profile support of road-pricing is believed to be the cause. Peel Holdings, who own the Trafford Centre retail complex, have been vocal opponents to congestion charging in the Greater M

Ticket sales processed through PayPoint, the UK's leading convenience store bill payment network, have now generated more than three million passenger journeys for Arriva since this sales method began in 2005. Arriva have re-signed their contract with PayPoint following the success of the ticketing scheme. PayPoint retailers earn 2% commission on Arriva transactions. Customers within Arriva’s Yorkshire, Midlands, Shires & Essex, Scotland West, North West & Wales, North East a

The introduction of concessionary transport smartcards in Scotland, England and potentially Wales brings multi-application resident and entitlement cards a step closer. In Scotland and England, most cards have been encoded so they can be used for additional non-transport applications as well as paid for travel. As is happening in Scotland, central government could do more to advise and encourage Travel Concession Authorities to use their investment in cards and scheme management to deliver addit

Plans to introduce cash-less integrated tickets which can be used on buses, trains and ferries throughout Scotland, has been unveiled by Transport Scotland. The organisation announced this week that smartcard technology is being developed which will allow users to access different travel services, ensuring Scotland has one of the most sophisticated travel systems in Europe in place well in advance of the Commonwealth Games coming to Glasgow in 2014. The Integrated Ticketing Strategy for Sc

South West Trains is considering cutting 120 station ticket office jobs following a review of sales. The review, the first of its kind at SWT for 10 years, was prompted by the growth of ticket machine, internet and telephone retailing. The company described the change as dramatic and found that ticket office opening hours at 114 stations should be reduced because of low ticket sales revenue at certain times. “We are not proposing to close any ticket offices completely, just to adjus

Rail watchdog Passenger Focus, has called for a raft of new measures to reduce queuing times at ticket offices, following new research which shows that industry levels are being exceeded at off-peak times. Ticket queuing times at major rail stations is a detailed study of queuing times and ticket offices at 12 major rail stations across Britain, carried out by independent market research agency TNS on behalf of the Passenger Focus.The report shows: London Kings Cross ticket had the wo

“Let’s not worry about oil [prices], let’s worry about where the government is ripping us off.” I can hear some senior industry insiders already saying “Oh no, what’s his rant about this time?” No rant, they were the carefully chosen words of Michael O’Leary of Ryanair being interviewed on Radio 4’s Today programme on the morning of Guy Fawkes Night. Explosive stuff! What he said made sense as, at the present time, the cost of tighter regulat

Chiltern railways will become the first operator in the world to offer passengers the option of using their mobile phones to purchase and receive a ticket to travel. This innovative new mobile ticketing technology means that passengers will be able to securely buy a ticket from their mobile and receive it in seconds. It sends a bar code to the passenger’s mobile phone via a text message, which is then scanned at the ticket gates. It is a step further from the mobile ticketing intr

GoVia has denied it is planning inflation-busting RPI+3% fare rises at its new West Midlands franchise, contradicting announcements from the government. In a statement to parliament in June announcing Govia had won the franchise, rail minister Tom Harris said: “On the London to Northampton route the operator plans to raise [deregulated] fares by 3% over inflation.” This was later reiterated in Department for Transport announcements, and angered passenger groups. However, this w

POOLE-BASED bus ticketing equipment specialist Wayfarer announced last week that it has been acquired by French group Parkeon for an undisclosed sum from its management team, in a deal that both sides say is a natural fit for the two businesses. The deal brings together Wayfarer’s considerable strength in bus and light rail ticketing around the world with Parkeon’s own expertise that is largely in the parking and heavy rail sectors. “In terms of products as well as geogra

Bus driver Bill Madge has seen many changes in the 17 years since he started the job. One of the most significant is the decline in the numbers of youngsters using the buses. “Ten years ago we were inundated with children and teenagers travelling by bus, especially during the summer holidays, but now you see them less and less,” says Madge, who drives for Stagecoach in South Wales. “Even during term-time there are fewer children travelling to and from school by bus than ther

Transport for London is intending to scrap the current fares on its London Overground routes “as soon as possible” after the new contract starts on November 11. The new fares will be exactly the same as on Underground services, reflecting TfL’s belief that there is a need for a single, consistent system of public transport in the capital. London Rail development director Peter Field told Transit that there was no great difference in price between LU fares and the current rai

T he fact that this year’s  Transport Innovations show was set alongside Bus & Coach Live at the NEC this year perhaps wrongly suggests that the event had little to offer the rail industry. In fact several of the most interesting and innovative exhibits were applicable to both modes, but the potential is still not grasped on the roads. Passenger-focused innovations are doing three things - providing information about the travel product; assisting the customer through the purch

rail users believe that the rail industry is lagging behind in using such high tech systems, according to new research published by Passenger Focus. Despite a large increase in online ticket sales, and the use of the internet and mobile phones by the National Rail Enquires Service, users believe technology could play a bigger role in rail travel, as it does in other aspects of their lives. These findings, the result of focus group work in five UK cities, were revealed by Passenger Focus ch

PRIME MINISTER Gordon Brown is said to be giving serious consideration to the introduction of free bus travel for under 18s in Greater Manchester. It came after Roger Jones, chair of the region’s PTA, raised the issue with senior Labour politicians last week at the party’s conference in Bournemouth. “The government is extending its free bus travel scheme for over 60s and disabled people next year to cover the whole of England. I want children and young people to be able to b

The association of Train Operating Companies has announced that London’s train operators are close to agreeing a deal which will commit them to accept pay as you go Oyster smartcard tickets. The deal will involve Transport for London making new concessions to operators including paying for installation of validators and back office equipment at stations. It had previously only agreed to pay for the equipment itself. Every London commuter TOC is now expected to have signed up to the deal

Will he or won’t he? Only Gordon Brown knows if he will soon call a general election, but belief that one is on the horizon influenced the tone of the discussions at this year’s party conferences. There were many interesting discussions about public transport. Rail was as ever the subject of lively debate, but even the humble bus merited a mention in Brown’s maiden conference speech as prime minister. Listing changes needed to renew democracy, he included: “Change to s

Wayfarer Transit Systems’ ground-breaking e-Bus Series will take centre stage at Coach & Bus Live 2007 (October 10-11), heralding the arrival of a complete family of state-of-the-art driver consoles delivering the full integration of on-vehicle applications. Wayfarer’s e-Bus family provides public transport operators with complete flexibility in driving on-bus systems - through a product line-up that delivers a ‘plug and play’ approach to the integration of on-vehi

Passenger Focus has been deeply engaged for two years in the fares debate called for by Transit (September 21). These discussions are even more important as, under current government plans, passengers are going to be shouldering more of the burden of the industry’s investment. Fares and ticketing, alongside getting a seat, remain Passenger Focus’ main work priorities. Our work kicked off with a major conference, Un-fare? The future of fares and ticketing in Great Britain, held las

With over 18,500 payment points across the UK and Ireland, PayPoint attracts more than 7 million customers every week who make regular household bill and mobile phone top up payments and many of whom are also heavy users of public transport. Many operators have found that PayPoint’s ticketing solutions can increase sales and repeat passenger journeys, while also minimising peak-time operational delays by reducing on-vehicle cash handling. Paypoint’s convenient locations and long

STAGECOACH’S DECISION to introduce a levy on passengers using interchanges in the South Yorkshire region is causing confusion and damaging relationships with stakeholders according to a letter sent by the chair of South Yorkshire PTA to transport minister Rosie Winterton. Last month Stagecoach South Yorkshire announced that all passengers starting or finishing their journeys at interchange facilities owned by SYPTE would see their bus fare increase by 10p (Transit August 24). It follo

Stagecoach’s new East Midlands rail franchise and Eurostar are drawing up integrated fares from cities such as Leicester, Derby and Sheffield to Paris and Brussels. The fare deals will be part of the companies’ push to exploit the new journey opportunities that will be produced by sharing the St Pancras terminal when Eurostar moves from Waterloo on November 14. It is estimated that Eurostar’s move to St Pancras coupled with the faster journeys on Phase 2 of the Channel

Stagecoach has called for the rail industry to examine how to move towards more flexible pricing with higher fares on busier services and bargain discounts to attract new business to poorly used trains. Announcing impressive growth figures from its experimental Megatrain operations, where journeys start from £1.50 and rise according to demand, the group suggested that greater deregulation of fares needed to be on the industry’s agenda to enable Megatrain-style pricing to be rolled

Bus-based Rapid Transit has become something of a buzz-word in the transport industry in recent years, in part thanks to the reluctance on the part of central government to fund light rail alternatives. As a result many local authorities are jumping on the BRT bandwagon in an effort to create transport networks that will deliver significant modal shift. But BRT can not only help achieve this important aim, it can be a significant aid to regeneration, just as Transport for London plans with it

The rail regulator has told Department for Transport rail director general Mike Mitchell that he should publicly justify the 20% fare rises introduced at South West Trains this summer, and other inflation-busting hikes which he has sanctioned in new franchise agreements. In correspondence between the DfT, passenger watchdogs and the Office of Rail Regulation, released by Passenger Focus last week, ORR chief executive Bill Emery argues that falling rail industry costs should reduce upward pres

Almex UK, the transport ticketing division of Hoeft and Wessel is reaping the rewards of embracing open platform systems some years ago. Successfully winning more than 50% of the systems to be implemented in the Scottish concessionary scheme, the Optima ticket machine and its associated family of products are enjoying the supplementary features that Hoeft and Wessel are adding. Autostage advance, local schedule adherence, driver defect packages, and driver bulletin systems have all been develope

Stagecoach Yorkshire says it is increasing some bus fares in South Yorkshire following the decision by the region’s Passenger Transport Executive to impose a new charge for the use of bus stations. The operator estimates that the move will cost it around half a million pounds each year. The PTE is believed to have been investigating ways of increasing charges for some time following  a series of contested concessionary fare payment battles with local bus operators. This saw the Dep

MVA Consultancy is one of the leading companies providing independent consultancy advice and support to central government agencies, local authorities and operators in respect of smart card technology for ticketing. This advice covers the complete project life cycle, from scheme design, through business case development and funding to procurement, implementation and onward development of schemes. Besides practical advice on the procurement and issue of smart cards, this also includes the sup

CAMBRIDGESHIRE?COUNTY?Council has announced plans for a £50m package of transport improvements, including congestion charging, to cope with massive population growth in the area in the next decade. Stagecoach has also revealed it is already investigating expanding its local bus fleet by 100 buses to cope with the planned growth. The council, which is highly regarded for its proactive approach to public transport, is planning to bid for the funding from the government’s Transport

TRANSPORT FOR London’s fifth monitoring report into the impact of the central London congestion charge has revealed that although traffic levels remain lower than when the scheme was first introduced in early 2003, average bus speeds are now dropping. Despite investment by TfL in bus priority, bus speeds have been in decline since 2003 throughout London, with the greatest drop recorded within the congestion charge zone. “In the past year alone there has been a 5% decease in bus

The Liberal Democrat Party has written to the National Audit Office asking it to investigate massive differences in the price of rail fares across the country, and between deregulated and regulated tickets. The extent of the difference in rail fares charged by different train operators was revealed by a Lib Dem research project which compared the distance that can be travelled for £10 with different operators. The study showed that, in general, passengers buying Open Single tickets w

the department for Transport has been urged to ensure that smartcard ticketing is introduced across the entire UK rail network in time for the 2012 Olympic Games. Jeremy Acklam, an expert in new ticketing solutions and business development director for online retailer TheTrainline, warned that if action was not taken soon the government risked missing out on a once in a lifetime opportunity. Speaking at last week’s Transit-sponsored Public Transport Mobile Generation conference in Bi

Wave goodbye to cash, the banks are telling us. In September, Visa and Mastercard will be launching new “wave and pay” cards in parts of London, before rolling them out to the rest of the UK. It’s already happening elsewhere in the world. Contactless credit cards are now widespread in the US, for example, and public transport operators are having to respond to this development. In Stockholm, a regulation has recently been introduced, for security reasons, which prevents bus ope

Scheidt & Bachmann has recently installed its 1000th ticket vending machine on the national rail network at Bridge of Allan station, for First ScotRail. To commemorate this landmark achievement, Scheidt & Bachmann and First ScotRail jointly organised a 1000th TVM event at Bridge of Allan station, which was held on March 26. Representatives from both companies were present to celebrate the occasion of the 1000th TVM official handover; including, Steve Montgomery of First ScotRail; Andy

Virgin Trains is planning more flexible ticketing and higher quality customer service initiatives as part of its strategy to meet targets for “substantial” increases in weekend and off-peak travel during its new West Coast franchise. VWC head of commercial, Peter Broadley, said the strategy would enable Virgin to capitalise fully on the extra 10 million seats per year the December 2008 timetable will provide. The new timetable and the completion of the West Coast Main Line upgrad

First has launched a national campaign that aims to encourage car users to kick their habit and take the bus. The new ‘Car Quit Kit’ specifically targets car users and uses a lighthearted approach to  persuade motorists to “take a responsible attitude towards reducing the effects of traffic congestion on the environment in our towns and cities and consider using public transport for some journeys”. To assist car users to kick their “car driving habit&rdqu

after accusing train operators of dragging their heels, London mayor Ken Livingstone has welcomed their outline agreement to accept Oyster Pay As You Go smart card ticketing on their services. Last May Livingstone offered operators funding of £20m to help cover the costs of installing the equipment needed to accept PAYG, but some operators are wary of the financial impact of accepting PAYG. However, one by one the majority of London’s operators announced their intention

Bus operators have gained millions of pounds from PTEs and local authorities in England after the Department for Transport supported their claims that they are not being properly compensated for participating in concessionary travel schemes. Operators lodged more than 60 appeals with the department following the introduction of free off-peak bus travel for pensioners and people with disabilities last April. These appeals have now mostly concluded, but although the DfT is not publishing the re

first Transpennine Express gave away 10,000 free train tickets this week in a bid to get travellers to try out its improved service. Passengers have snapped up 10,000 free return rail tickets over the internet in just 24 hours in the biggest free ticket offer of its kind. Launched on February 5 to mark the completion of the introduction into service of a new fleet of 100 mph Siemens Class 185 trains, the ticket offer came just one week after the latest National Passenger Survey showed a bi

London mayor Ken Livingstone has come under fire over “eye-watering” bus and tube fare rises in the capital for 2007. He is accused of hitting low income earners the hardest, for increasing Oyster ‘pay as you go’ fares by “stealth”, and discouraging people from using public transport. Cash fares for a single tube journey have risen from £3 to £4 in Zone 1 and on buses from £1.50 to £2. Whilst single journeys on buses and tubes remai

Chiltern Railways has become the first UK train operator to sell the complete range of Transport for London smartcard Oyster products at its main London Marylebone station. Chiltern passengers can now purchase all products including ‘pay as you go’ Oyster for the Tube. The Laing-owned company has also sold its first annual Oyster card on its new Fastis booking office ticket machines, which represent an investment of £800,000. “We have worked very closely with Transp

london mayor Ken Livingstone says that train operators have until the end of the  month to accept an offer from Transport for London to help finance the roll-out of its Oyster smart card to the capital’s rail network. Following a landmark deal with the Department for Transport in May last year, the mayor offered a funding package of £20m to the train operators to finance the provision of Oyster equipment to the 310 stations in London zones 1-6. However, Livingstone claims

Much water has passed under the bridge since the Plusbus combined rail and bus ticket was established in response to the government’s “integrated transport” mantra of the late 1990s. After five years of hard work, the product is now available as an add-on to train fares to any rail station in Great Britain serving a population of over 100,000. The government may no longer emphasise integration as a policy objective, but the rail and bus industries continue to develop Plusbus

C2C is hoping that new station security blockades with Essex Police will help it halve ticketless travel from 3% to 1.5%. The initiative will extend the successful Operation Effective which started last year and involved c2c and the police mounting joint operations at stations in areas with high local crime rates to check for fraudulent travel, known criminals and people carrying weapons, drugs and stolen goods. The idea was suggested by the police who suspected that a large amount of cri

The introduction of concessionary travel has been a contentious issue for many involved in passenger transport, but its introduction, both at countywide level in England as well as the nationwide schemes in Scotland and Wales, has seen transport operators looking at the implications for their business models. But it is not just transport operators who have had to do this. Malcolm Daughtrey, the recently appointed managing director of National Transport Tokens, believes that he has found

The year now departing has been quite a one for the bus industry. We can truly do without another like it, yet we are promised more upheaval to come during both next year and at least the one after. No wonder there is a growing feeling in the industry that enough is enough. The year started with all the uncertainty of what the decision to let pensioners and others travel free of charge would mean for us. Mistakenly we all thought that after this year it would, at least, settle down and be put

The Welsh Assembly Government has announced a possible trial extension of free bus travel to rural railways, but the idea immediately ran into opposition from an independent bus operator. After the introduction of the Cerdyn Cymru free bus pass for pensioners and disabled people in Wales in 2002, the Welsh Labour Party’s manifesto in 2003 proposed to investigate extending validity to some rural railways. But the proposal has taken so long to reach a possible trial on the Conwy Valley li

A new report by South Yorkshire PTE on how it intends to deliver its bus strategy has recommended to the region’s PTA members that it continue work in investigating the possibility of introducing Quality Contracts in the conurbation. However the PTE’s the report, which was presented to members last week, reveals that no decision will be taken on whether to apply for powers for the introduction of bus franchising until after transport secretary Douglas Alexander outlines his plans

Wherever one sits on a train, a plane, a coach or a bus, passengers all around are busily interacting. They are tapping at keyboards, pecking at palmtops, fiddling with phones or just lolling back listening to the latest download. Even the Quiet Coach is continually interrupted by electronic beeps and tics. This isn’t just a fact of a life – better, it’s a sales opportunity. The generation of children who grew up with computers in the house in the 1990s are now earning and trav

Saver tickets are now thought unlikely to be scrapped following lobbying by Passenger Focus, the rail passenger watchdog. At the beginning of the year the government was under pressure from train operators to remove or scale back regulation of Saver tickets to provide them with more flexibility. However, Passenger Focus claims the debate has now shifted away from scrapping the Saver towards how fares regulation can be reformed to offer greater flexibility. Passenger Focus chairman Colin

The award of the Integrated Kent franchise to Govia in November last year led many in the industry to question why the Go Ahead/Keolis partnership felt that 140mph commuter services on the Channel Tunnel Rail Link would be such a lucrative offering. Among the doubters was Christopher Garnett, chief executive of rival bidder GNER, who questioned how many people would be prepared to pay a 30% premium to travel on a line that terminated at St Pancras, miles from where many City commuters want to en

train operators have been urged to address the concerns of passengers over the value for money offered by rail fares following the latest National Passenger Survey. The survey, published by rail watchdog Passenger Focus, found that while overall satisfaction with train services is increasing, ratings for value for money are getting worse. Just 41% of the 26,000 those interviewed said they were satisfied with the value for money offered by the price of their ticket. The results of the surve

The new First Capital Connect franchise has been accused of “blatant profiteering” by passenger groups after banning use of discounted tickets on evening peak services. The ban, which was presented by FCC as necessary to reduce overcrowding, applies to journeys north from London to destinations outside the capital’s Travelcard area. The company expects that it will result in 20% of cheap ticket holders choosing not to travel, freeing up space on crowded peak services. &ld