Another step into the future

INIT’s ticketing system in Turku will now be expanded to allow contactless card-based payments

Pay however you want: that is the goal the city of Turku set for the public transport companies serving the metropolitan area of Turku. A highly innovative fare management system went live back in 2016, followed by an Intermodal Transport Control System (ITCS). Now, another milestone will be reached: Contactless payments based on the cEMV standard for bank and credit cards will be available across the public transportation network in Turku – a “first” in all of Scandinavia. Once again, Turku chose to work with INIT for this ambitious project.

The evolution of public transport in Turku is really gaining momentum. Just two years ago, on 1 July 2015, the new ID-/account-based ticketing system went live for the public transport network, known as Föli. As a result passengers were provided with more options for comparing different fares while also benefiting from improved security. Their ticketing medium, usually a smart card, is simply linked to a customer account ID. All personal data is stored solely in the backoffice system, where it is processed and updated in real time. This gives customers not just the freedom to choose between different ticketing media, but it also ensures they are much better protected against misuse in the event they misplace their card. This system has proven very successful in Turku and has been a big hit with passengers.

The new system has also been a substantial step forward for the public transport companies themselves. For example, fare changes that can take several days to roll out across a conventional e-ticketing system can now come into effect within just a few minutes via the MOBILEvario back-office system. As all data is stored and processed in the background system, it is active and effective immediately across the entire system after any change.

The comprehensive ticketing system came with the corresponding hardware; all buses across the region were fitted with the new combined on-board computer and ticket printer EVENDpc, and the passenger terminal PROXmobil.

An Intermodal Transport Control System (ITCS) was then added to the system during the next stage. Open interfaces provide access to realtime information on travel times, which enables
a range of additional functionality – such as the specially created passenger information app. An integrated traffic signal priority system will also soon go live.

Open Payment (cEMV)

The current system expansion will remove a major barrier to purchasing tickets, which is expected to be of particular interest to non-residents and non-frequent travelers. The cEMV standard (contactless Europay MasterCard VISA standard), which was postponed in the initial tendering process, will now be integrated into the system.

The ability to make contactless payments simply by tapping a compatible bank or credit card (and later: smartphones with cEMV-standard payment apps) to the ticket terminal when boarding, could also support long-term growth in ridership in Turku. Due to this easier and faster ticketing option, the number of passengers purchasing their tickets from the driver will decrease. This will allow a corresponding reduction in boarding times. All the necessary changes are now being implemented in the MOBILEvario backoffice system.

“This has been a demanding and inspiring project and we are happy to continue developing our payment system with INIT”, says the public transport director Sirpa Korte.

Turku is a progressive city with a high quality of life, made even more attractive by an innovative public transport system.

Contact

Georg-Maximilian Michalski

Key Account Manager
INIT GmbH
Germany

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This article was published in our customer magazine INITiative, issue 2/2018. If you want to receive the magazine regularly per e-mail, we kindly ask you to subscribe.

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Another step into the future