As the industry moves further towards contactless fare collection, where else
could bus and coach ticketing go? Rise Operations Director, Christopher Nice, recently spoke with Chris Peat of Bus & Coach Buyer.
Rise Digital Media provides operators with digital systems and platforms that help operators run their business. It enables companies to publish mobile tickets in the form of QR codes displayed on an app, which are designed to work with ETMs. For vehicles not fitted with an ETM, the QR codes can also be read by a driver app. There are also capabilities for people to buy the mobile tickets and gift them to others, such as a parent buying them for a child.
The operator can also create various payment options for fares using the system, such as a payment plan for yearly tickets. It is connected to Apple Pay and Google Pay to enable this.
Rise Digital Media is also integrating its fare collection capabilities with other payment applications, such as Chinese payment platform Alipay. Chris Nice, Operations Director, said this is important when it comes to students and travellers from abroad.
Chris said: “There continues to be a market for those who don’t have a smartphone. There are times when an operator requires a printed ticket, such as when operators work with local businesses and email tickets out for them to issue to staff. We are here to give what our customers ask for, a solution that best suits them.
We know operators sometimes charge less for mobile tickets, but we make sure we don’t close any channels.
“It’s fair to say technology has been embraced by operators more now than ever. Moving forwards, things will continue to move towards cashless and mobile ticketing will support that. We think simple fares supported by different ways to pay is the way to go. The easier you make it, the more attractive bus and coach becomes.
“Mobile ticketing and e-tickets mean an operator can learn a lot more about their customer base, why and where they are travelling. In the student market, when a child boards a service, a parent can receive an alert.
Moving towards these systems allows us to open up these possibilities.”