If your transit agency’s 2025 plans include selecting a partner for a new or upgraded fare collection solution, there are many different factors to consider. Whether you’re replacing aging fareboxes or implementing an end-to-end revenue management platform, there are more options than ever.
At the same time, we’re facing a rapidly changing transit environment with evolving needs. Each partner offers its own nuances and benefits, as well as drawbacks, so it can be difficult to know which factors to focus on when deciding.
As Chief Revenue Officer of Genfare, and with more than 20 years of experience in the public transit industry, I’ve learned a few things about what good partnerships with transit agencies look and act like. I’ve had firsthand experience in determining if a fare collection partner will truly help transit agencies bolster their services to improve the lives of customers.
With so many factors to consider, I’ve narrowed them down to three key criteria that transit agencies should prioritize in a fare collection partner. I hope that this will help guide the selection process and ensure that your partner is delivering on the needs of your agency, your riders, and your community.
Fare collection flexibility
As the pool of transit riders becomes larger and more diverse by the day, ensuring that your partner can accommodate the varying needs of your customers is key. There is no one ‘typical’ transit rider, and the capabilities of your fare partner should reflect that.
Inclusive payment options
For example, partners should have flexibility in payment types to enable your agency to accept whatever form of payment is in your riders’ pockets. From open payment to fare cards and cash, partners should aim to be as inclusive and equitable as possible when it comes to fare collection to encourage frequent and seamless travel.
Additionally, allowing many types of payment allows for different types of riders to access your transit service – for example, tourists or out-of-town visitors may be interested in using your services but may not want to deal with understanding complicated fare structures or purchasing a local transit card, ultimately dissuading them from riding.
Simple and equitable fare capping
Another way that your partner should be flexible to meet your riders’ needs is to offer the technology to support programs like fare capping, which gives all riders the benefits of a daily, weekly or monthly pass without having to pay the full cost of the pass up front. This reassures riders that they aren’t overpaying and that they’re always guaranteed to get the best value on their rides.
Flexibility in payment provides riders a level of certainty and security that they can always rely on your transit services when they need them, and having a fare collection partner that matches this flexibility is crucial for a well-oiled public transit service.
Future-proof products and services
Fare collection continues to evolve as new rider-facing and back-office technology is developed. Methods for accepting fares, validating and/or processing payment, vaulting, and completing other functions such as reconciliation and reporting, are consistently undergoing improvement.
As such, it’s important to make sure that your fare collection partner is able to keep up with these changes. Making sure that your partner offers systems that are technologically savvy will ensure that your fare collection solution continues to be helpful for riders as these changes rapidly occur.
Adaptable to changes in fare collection technology and trends
For example, just a few decades ago, only cash, change or tokens were accepted as payment forms on transit systems, and fareboxes were built to last for decades. Then magnetic media, barcodes, and closed-loop smart cards were introduced, followed by mobile ticketing. Today, open payment is rapidly becoming expected by riders, and surely tomorrow there will be more technologically complex payment methods.
However, the fareboxes themselves remain durable and it doesn’t make sense to keep replacing them to keep up with payment technology advances. That’s where a next-gen, modular farebox like the Fast Fare comes in. You can purchase the Fast Fare loaded with the features you need today and plan to introduce soon or add the next group of features in the future. And it’s ready to accept new components for whatever comes next.
While you can’t predict the future of transit, you should ensure that your fare collection partner offers solutions that are upgradeable knowing that new payment forms and other technology will likely be developed. This will ensure that your transit system is dynamic and allow you to keep up with external changes – and competitors like rideshare services. In the long run, you’ll save money by continually upgrading your system versus replacing it entirely.
Cloud-based for disruption-free continuous upgrades
Today’s future-proofed transit solution is likely to use a cloud based system. Partnering with an organization that offers a cloud-based revenue management and reporting platform like Genfare Link, connected with smart hardware, will enable your system to regularly and quickly upgrade, whereas re-purchasing hardware each time there’s a major innovation is comparatively higher in time, effort and cost.
With cloud services, your organization will be also able to access real time data to see how your services are performing and investigate any changes that need to be made. Cloud systems often update automatically and free of charge, typically with little to no downtime, meaning your system will be up to date and up to new standards as new updates become available. And, many are built with capabilities to help you integrate with other systems your agency may already have in place, further lowering the cost of adopting new technology.
Overall, you’ll want to look for partners that leverage solutions built with future changes in mind. This will prevent you from having to overhaul your system as technology develops and, more importantly, maintains a modernized, better experience for riders.
Strong partnership
An effective fare collection partner will be one that not only provides useful services, but one that acts as a strategic project manager and advises how their services will work best to meet your agency’s needs. They should provide true consultation and work hand in hand with your team to understand the nuances, challenges and goals of your agency through deep discovery work.
Collaborative approach
Ultimately, this groundwork should lead them to design a comprehensive diagnosis, plan of execution and proposal that outlines strategic solutions specific to your business. Partners who take a strong collaborative approach and who seek to truly understand your business are much preferred as they will produce holistic, effective solutions.
Many organizations provide testimonials and case studies from customers for whom they have helped create successful programs, which can be useful in evaluating partner performance. Refer to their past partnership work to ensure that they have experience in designing comprehensive programs that were carefully tailored to their partner and that achieved their partner’s goals.
Fare collection industry expertise
Additionally, your partner should have a team of experts across different business functions to act as solution architects and ensure that each program component will support your larger goals. Make sure your partner has these experts available within their organization to ensure that they will be able to deliver on all of your different business goals.
Skilled communication throughout the relationship
Finally, make sure that your prospective partner is a strong communicator. If you decide to work together, your partner will need to continuously ask for your input during the evaluation and rollout process, and, therefore, will need to be in close collaboration with you and your team.
Additionally, make sure that they offer robust maintenance services to ensure that the equipment is properly maintained, thereby providing reliability to your riders and a longer useful lifespan of the equipment.
While there are so many factors to consider when choosing a fare collection partner, honing in on the major aspects can make your decision process much more straightforward and ensure that your prospective partner is the right fit for your agency.
Mike Loeffler is the CRO of Genfare, a leader in solution-based fare collection. Learn more about how Genfare has partnered with transit agencies to improve their services and rider experiences.
