EVALUATION OF SCANPOINT ELECTRONIC TICKETING SYSTEM

The object of this project was to test an electronic ticketing system. In this system, the passenger has a plastic card the same size as an ordinary credit card. It can be used either as a 30 day season ticket or as a multitrip season ticket. In both cases information regarding remaining validity/amount is given by an on-board card reader. When validity expires, the card can be renewed by payment. To encourage use of the card during the trial period, it was sold at a lower price than ordinary season tickets. On the whole, travellers liked the card. Most complained however that the card reader is too slow. Schoolchildren are displeased because card is valid only on certain routes. The routes have a large number of commuters and a large proportion of season ticket holders. It cannot be predicted whether on a route with a greater mix reception would have been just as positive. Most drivers like the equipment. There were some complaints regarding details. Average boarding time with card is 5.3 seconds per passenger, and with ordinary season ticket 5.8 seconds. Among the advantages of the microprocessor based system are: (1) automatic calculation of fare, (2) automatic and rapid display, (3) computerised transfer of ticket statistics. (TRRL)