5 reasons why mobile ticketing can help you achieve your sustainability goals
Sustainable mobility is at the heart of any smart cities’ green policies. Providing alternative solutions to private cars helps reduce pollution and congestion. It also improves people’s health, reduces stress and saves them money.
Simple and easy to implement initiatives exist and can contribute to changing habits and achieving these goals. For example, implementing a mobile ticketing solution can be a simple and efficient way to offer a greener access to public transport. Here’s why.
1. The end of disposable tickets
Many transport authorities use paper disposable tickets, some traditional, some magnetic. Usually bought for a single journey, the ticket is discarded when the traveler has reached its destination – often in a bin, sometimes on the floor.
Unfortunately, if these tickets are not recycled and end up in landfill, there is a significant environmental impact. Implementing a mobile ticketing solution can dramatically reduce the number of tickets issued, therefore positively impact the inherent supply chain. This alternative also makes it possible to limit sales on board and increase the commercial speed of the buses, which require less time at each stop.
For travelers who prefer not to use a digital solution, reusable paper tickets, sold in parallel, can also be an alternative.
2. Prevent people from needlessly visiting agencies and queueing
With a mobile ticketing solution, travelers can purchase their tickets via their smartphone, anytime and anywhere. They do not have to physically travel to a ticket agency or queue at a vending machine. As well as reducing people’s unnecessary travels, it also encourages health measures as it prevent queues and gatherings.
3. Simplify the administration around passes and concessions
To benefit from school, student and other concession reduced rates, travelers have to provide supporting documents such as ID, proof of address or other certificates. Usually, these need printed, photocopying and taken in person to the ticket agency or sent by post. Mobile ticketing solutions offer the opportunity to send these documents online in a matters of seconds. The digital platform allows transport operators to remotely administer the rights of each traveler.
4. Encouraging occasional travelers to take public transport
Taking public transport requires to access some information, at least about the line, the stops and the direction to take. Allowing passengers to buy their tickets at home before they travel is part of this preparation process and increases the public transportation adoption rate. Having to find a ticket office or a vending machine and then queueing to purchase a ticket often discourage occasional travelers, such as tourists and people on business trips, to use public transport. These travelers can be highly receptive to a mobile ticketing solution that must be clearly promoted at airports, train stations and the various websites travelers may visit prior to their trip (cities, tourism offices and transport authorities).
5. Multi-modal transportation, for a greater impact!
Encouraging the use of public transport is also making sure that the “first and last miles” of the journey are covered.
Providing live passenger information as well as bike-sharing, electrical scooter-sharing or similar scheme can help travelers plan their whole journey from their front door to their final destination.
Even better, if you can integrate them all in one place as part of MaaS approach, you simplify the whole process and make your travelers’ life so much easier. Mobile ticketing systems can integrate other apps allowing cities and transport authorities to provide a one-stop-shop for their mobility offering.
Providing sustainable mobility solutions has become a must but the overall experience of your users must also be a priority. Implementing a mobile ticketing solution is one step you can take to help achieve the shift towards the use of public transportation. Easy to implement and cost-effective, mobile ticketing solutions bring a greener alternative to tickets and cards and help improve the quality of service you offer and the users’ experience.