Implementing Public Transport Smart Mobile Ticketing Solutions within a Deregulated Shire Environment – A United Kingdom Case Study Approach

Bus use in the United Kingdom outside of London has either been static or in decline since the mid-1980s. While there have been some recent reverses to this trend outside of London, with the current financial climate public transport funding is at risk. The Local Transport Act 2008 has attempted to address this trend by providing Local Authorities with powers to influence bus service provision. The Local Sustainable Transport Fund (LSTF) in England provided capital and revenue funding for up to four years to successful project bids including investment in integrated bus networks and smart ticketing. The County Council of Hertfordshire has been successful in securing over £11 million of LSTF through its partnership approach with local transport operators, district councils and the University of Hertfordshire. A proportion of this spend has been focused on developing integrated public transport solutions within the Shire County area, but to date has not included a Smart Interoperable Ticketing solution for either bus and/or train networks. The aim of this paper is to demonstrate how Hertfordshire County Council, the University of Hertfordshire and its wholly owned bus company (UNO) have worked in partnership to develop a Smart Ticketing solution, with the future aim of establishing both a multi-operator and multi-modal (bus and train) solution across the county. This paper examines the rationale behind the smart ticketing project, including the different platforms available (phone, street vending, smart card). The design, implementation and marketing of the solutions are described. Quantitative, qualitative and geospatial research techniques are employed to inform understanding of the impact of Smart Ticketing within the case study. The effectiveness of planned marketing campaigns, technical development aspects and implementation issues will also be reported. A key objective of the research is to better understand the uptake and potential of the Smart Ticketing solution(s) by both current bus users and non-users. Growth in use of smart ticketing will be assessed on the basis of detailed analysis of ticket sales before and after implementation to with a view to enhancing understanding of its uptake and wider impacts. A business case and future strategies for wider uptake across multi-operator bus networks within a deregulated market, as well as prospects for adaptation to multi-modal networks, will be presented.