No mobile phone, no ticket? This is how the SBB plans the future of tickets

Public transport is competing for new customers. From December 12, SBB & Co. a bonus-driven subscription called “Halbtaxplus”. The intention is to get users who got off during the Corona crisis back on the trains. The public transport companies are completely dependent on mobile phones: if you want to take advantage of the offer, you have to buy your tickets digitally, ideally via the SBB’s ‘Easyride’ function.

The approach fits within the Alliance Swisspass strategy. It plans to sell almost exclusively digital tickets from 2035. The trade association is even considering a fundamental overhaul of the ticketing system with ‘myride’: passengers’ journeys will one day be automatically tracked and invoiced via mobile phone.

A prototype will be launched next spring. In so-called field tests, the industry wants to find out how customers respond to the digitalization offensive. “The first elements of the e-tariff will be offered on the market at the earliest two years after a successful test phase,” it said in a statement. These are small steps towards a tariff revolution.

The industry wants to have more influence

But behind the scenes, Alliance is already planning Swisspass further into the future. She recently placed a tender on the purchasing platform Simap. The goal: to investigate what is technologically possible in digital travel processing. To this end, the Alliance Swiss Pass wants to take a closer look at the offering of “smartphone-based positioning systems”.

Because there are still many questions unanswered. How should the infrastructure be expanded for national e-ticketing? What role do so-called beacons, or Bluetooth transmitters, play in trains? How can automatic travel registration guarantee anonymity? The providers can now present their solutions.

However, the transport companies do not want to purchase an existing system for the digital conversion in the longer term, according to the tender. Rather, it is looking for a “development partner for a potential future industry-specific solution.” This is necessary because automatic travel registration is now well established and is expected to be the most important sales channel in the future.

SBB and Co. want to have more say in this system, which is tailored to Swiss circumstances. The aim is to “gain more influence on the strategic control and further development of automatic travel registration,” the newspaper says. Until now, several transport associations and the SBB have relied on the technology of the Bernese company Fairtiq.

Localization becomes more accurate

Those responsible are still unobtrusively concerned with where exactly the journey is going. However, when we talk to industry experts, it becomes clear: the quality of location data will improve significantly in the coming years. By the end of the year, SBB will have Bluetooth transmitters installed in all cars.

These channels, which do not pose any problems in terms of data protection, are not only important for free internet on the train and for people with visual impairments. Together with location data and timetable comparisons, it will even be possible to see whether someone is on the train or has already got off. This then forms the basis for a so-called ‘Be-in, Be-out’ model. Passengers no longer even have to start their journey in the app; the mobile phone automatically recognizes where travelers get on and off. For those who want to keep control in their own hands, this feature could be offered as an option.

And what about people who don’t have a mobile phone or want to pay for their ticket in cash? The industry is considering creating an interim solution here. The canton of Graubünden serves as an example: passengers can buy a ticket on the bus or on the platform with their debit or credit card. The plan is to soon invoice directly in the background by clocking in and out with a card.

And for those who do not want to use a bank card, Bündner Verkehrsbetriebe offers prepaid card cards for 10 or 20 francs. What sounds like an unplanned stop can be financially rewarding: the biggest expense in selling tickets at traditional machines is maintaining the monetary infrastructure.

Denmark is currently following a similar path, where the company Fairtiq recently secured a major order: railways there are also relying on mobile phones to move away from the previous system of plastic cards and barriers in the long term. Until then, customers who want to earn money can probably top up their loyalty card with credit at the kiosk and check in and out at the gates.

The fight against fraudsters remains necessary

While the fare jungle could soon disappear thanks to more precise location, a common problem will remain: ‘traveling without a valid ticket’, as the industry jargon calls it. Even in the new digital ticketing world, fraud remains possible, for example through manipulation of location data, false personal information or deliberately switching off your mobile phone.

However, artificial intelligence can now recognize striking patterns from the large amounts of data and track down scammers. Developers such as provider Fairtiq therefore assume that transport companies will experience less profit loss in the future.

Has the digitalization offensive in public transport progressed, given the benefits for transport companies? Not necessary. According to Alliance Swisspass, consumers should have the final say. The trade association emphasizes that every step is “open and without prior decisions”.