Rail News Home Passenger Rail January 2017 Rail News: Passenger Rail By
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., Associate EditorA technological revolution is sweeping through the U.S. passenger-rail industry. Transit agencies are developing, refining and launching mobile applications aimed at improving riders' overall traveling experiences. And the latest apps aren't just run-of-the-mill trip planners; they've evolved to enable passengers to purchase fares digitally, check real-time arrival status, connect with ride-sharing services and even report criminal activity.To accommodate these apps, agencies are overhauling their legacy fare payment systems, collaborating with tech start-ups and doing what they can to make their services as mobile friendly as possible.In Chicago, for example, riders can use the Ventra app to purchase fares for the area's three transit systems: the
Chicago Transit Authority (CTA),
Metra and the
Pace bus system.
Launched in November 2015, the app enables passengers to use their phones to load money onto their Ventra cards.The app includes mobile ticketing capabilities for Metra — a first for the commuter railroad. When the Ventra card payment system launched in 2013, riders could use the cards to purchase CTA and Pace fares, but Metra maintained its legacy fare system. Now, passengers can buy digital Metra tickets directly on the Ventra app."This is the first time [the three agencies] have had any kind of universal fare payment system," says CTA Director of Revenue and Fare Systems Mike Gwinn, adding that such a system has long been a goal for local transit advocates.But it was a challenge to meet the needs of three different service providers, especially those that didn't have a history of close collaboration on fares, Gwinn says.Gathering feedbackAnother hurdle: ensuring a positive user experience. To clear it, CTA and its partners in May 2015 recruited Smart Collaborative Chicago's Civic User Testing Group to beta test the Ventra app. The group provided a pool of testers to use the app to purchase fares, manage their Ventra accounts, and check real-time arrival and departure information from their smartphones.CTA, Metra and Pace launched the Ventra app in November 2015.Photo: Chicago Transit Authority
"We were able to get really good, in-depth feedback from people who think about how apps should work," Gwinn says. "They could confirm when assumptions we made were appropriate."
Currently, tickets purchased on the app account for around 10 percent of all fare sales. That number continues to increase — a trend that CTA officials welcome.