Joined up journeys - integrating park and ride services

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1 customer newsletter May 2014 SMART TRANSACTIONS SOLUTIONS FOR GOVERNMENT AND BUSINESS Joined up journeys - integrating park and ride services Many towns and cities are encouraging car drivers to use park and ride services to utilise public transport as part of their door to door journey. Park and ride services play a valued role in reducing congestion in towns and cities around the country and make it easier to get into busy centres at peak times. A key driver in encouraging the use of park and ride is to make the service convenient, accessible and integrated into the public transport infrastructure, which is why smart ticketing is becoming a popular way to pay for the service. Norwich and Bristol have recently launched smart ticketing for park and ride services and deployed customer ticketing portals to make buying tickets easy and convenient for customers. IN THIS ISSUE Norfolk Park and Ride ticketing portal live Bristol Park and Ride ticketing portal live RSL joins the ACT Cloud 20% off European Bus Forum Benefits of park and ride services Environmental Cut city centre congestion. Reduce carbon emissions and improve air quality. User benefits Avoid the car park queues and the expense of parking in city centres. Enjoy a more relaxing journey. Cost-effective - particularly when using smart ticketing multi-journey tickets. Faster end-to-end journeys - ease past the traffic jams by using bus lanes.

2 2 3 We are delighted to see the launch of the holdall smartcard and introduce smart ticketing for park and ride in Norwich. This is the first service to benefit from our DfT-funded smart ticketing pilot project. Further services will be added later this year to support our plans to join up public transport journeys across Norfolk Norfolk County Council Norfolk County Council launches park and ride ticketing portal Increasing the use of park and ride is high on the agenda for many cities and a convenient and accessible ticketing process is a key driver to increase their use Card holder benefits Norfolk County Council has launched an online ticketing portal for the launch of its park and ride smart ticketing scheme The holdall smart card scheme, which will be rolled out to cover other services later in the year, is the result of the DfT Better Bus Area Fund - a 2.5 million, three-year pilot running until March Encouraging more people to opt for bus travel by improving and promoting the bus network in Norwich, is a key aim of the Norwich Area Transport Strategy. Norwich has six park and ride sites which currently operate using paper tickets. Users of the service can buy a day return or select from a range of season ticket options. Under the previous system, season tickets could be purchased online, but would take up to five days to be delivered to the customer s home; a lot of people chose to purchase their tickets on the bus. The new customer portal, developed by ACT, introduces an easier and more convenient way to pay for Norwich s park and ride service using rechargeable smart cards. Accessed through Norfolk County Council s website, the portal helps to reduce the administrative burden on council staff by moving ticket purchasing to self-service channels. Additionally, with rechargeable smart cards, topups can be processed quickly, without the need and associated cost of sending out new paper tickets. To encourage customers to register for the new smart card Norfolk County Council is introducing special smart card fares, but limited cash fare Gary Watts, ACT CEO options will still be available to buy on the bus. As more and more people choose to use the new smart card, boarding the bus will be quicker by reducing cash transactions on the bus. Supported by squid s secure digital payment technology. Simple and convenient Online application Speedy top-ups Secure online payment Available 24 hours

3 4 5 Customer ticketing portal opens for Bristol s Park and Ride service Smart ticketing is being rolled out for Bristol s Park and Ride service following last year s successful smart ticketing trial of the TravelWest+ card. Bristol has three park and ride sites: Long Ashton, Portway and Brislington. The Long Ashton Park and Ride is operated by First, while CT Plus operates the Brislington and Portway sites. Up to 3,000 passengers use the park and ride services every week. Bristol s TravelWest scheme, implemented by Bristol City Council, allows travellers to load transport tickets online through a web portal designed by ACT. To request their TravelWest+ smart card, travellers simply need to go to the portal to register and they will receive their card in the post. They can use the portal to top up their TravelWest card with the tickets they need for Bristol s An increasing number of park and ride services are adopting smart ticketing, which helps speed up boarding and gives customers an easy way to pay for the service. Gary Watts, ACT CEO Park and Ride service. When they board the bus, all they need to do is place the card against the ticket machine. The new customer portal introduces an easier and more convenient way to pay for Bristol s Park and Ride service through self-service smart ticketing. Travellers now have the tools to top up their smart card with the tickets they need, which reduces the level of cash payments on bus and the need for drivers to issue paper tickets. Edward Hopkins, Project Manager for the scheme, commented, The introduction of the TravelWest+ smartcard will make it easier and more convenient to use Park and Ride in Bristol. The introduction of smart ticketing is key to joining up public transport journeys and encouraging more people to use public transport, both in Bristol and the wider region, and this is an important first step in achieving this. Supported by squid s secure digital payment technology. Advisory services at ACT No two projects are ever quite the same. Whether it s a new tourism city pass, a local authority concessionary pass system, a commercial smart ticketing system, or a new loyalty programme, each will have different requirements and expected outcomes. That s why it s important to get the right people involved from the very start of a new project. Responsible for the scope, design and specification of a customer s end-toend solution, ACT s team of Customer Solutions Architects get involved as soon as a customer approaches ACT with a new requirement. Sometimes their involvement is purely for validation of a minor customer change. For more complex requirements, they capture and validate requirements in consultation with the customer, define the scope and prepare a design based on use cases. They provide a critical link between the customer and ACT development teams, not only at the start of the project, but right the way through to the delivery of the finished solution. Their unique expertise, amassed from years of experience designing smart ticketing solutions, means they can guide and advise customers before preparing the most effective solution; a solution that not only delivers the current requirements, but is designed to accommodate future needs and technologies. When asked about the benefits of using experienced customer solutions architects, Chris, Principal Solutions Architect at ACT, simply said: Timeliness and quality. He added, Basically, the time spent at the start of the project, gathering and validating requirements, through consultation with the customer, grounds everyone in its objectives and requirements. When you start a project with an agreed solution design, one that provides what the customer needs within their defined budget, everyone shares the same vision. When designing a smart ticketing system, a shared vision along with regular validation checkpoints, results in a speedier implementation that delivers just what the customer needs. Chris, Principal Solutions Architect, ACT Our expertise Smart ticketing specialists Ability to analyse from all perspectives Product and design expertise Sustainable, future-proof design approach 360 requirements validation More information Please contact your Account Manager to discuss the advisory services available to you.

4 6 7 RSL joins the ACT Cloud Ticketing service Cloud Partners RSL (Region Services Limited) is the latest company to connect to ACT s Cloud Ticketing Service, securing ITSO smart ticketing capability for its ticketing devices and kiosks. RSL supplies a wide range of interactive terminals, ticketing machines, broadcast screens and innovative passenger information system software. With a strong track record for working with local authorities and transport operators, the company PayPoint has a network of contactless-enabled payment terminals in over 25,000 convenience stores, newsagents and forecourts. By joining the ACT Cloud, we will be able to offer speedy ticket vending and fulfilment solutions via our TVM portfolio. Joining the ACT Cloud makes it easy for us to cost effectively deploy smart ticketing across our network. is ideally placed to deliver smart ticketing as an additional consumer service. Paul Moirano, Parkeon Sales Director for UK Rail Roger Mathers, Director of Business Development, RSL vending machines don t need to joining the ACT Cloud, PayPoint associations and a growing invest in additional hardware to plans to retail smart card transport and travel base. gain ITSO capability. products through its existing network of payment terminals Parkeon, a global leader in mass PayPoint was the first company in over 25,000 convenience transit ticketing and parking to join ACT s Cloud Partner stores, newsagents and payment solutions, joined the Programme. It currently forecourts. programme in January processes a range of payments, The company plans to integrate worth over 14 billion, from Its clients include many the ACT Remote POST into almost 740 million transactions of the UK s major energy, its Astreo and Galexio TVMs a year. It has been retailing cable, mobile and fixed line to support the purchase and transport paper and smart telephony companies as well collection of rail ticket products ticketing for past 10 years. By as numerous water companies, using ITSO compliant smart local authorities, housing cards. A passenger using one of RSL s interactive information totems. Since the launch of ACT s ACT developed its Cloud ACT makes it simple to connect Extended retail network Be a Cloud Partner Cloud Partner Programme in September 2013, PayPoint, Parkeon and RSL have joined the programme to extend their services by plugging into ACT s cloud infrastructure. Ticketing service to extend transport operators traditional ticket sales channels with a wider, more accessible retail network. to its ticketing cloud. All the communications, transaction processing and payments are managed in the ACT Cloud, so retailers and suppliers of ticket ACT s Remote POST technology enables more services to easily and cost-effectively connect to the ACT Cloud to extend top-up and collection points as well as giving passengers the convenience of downloading tickets online. Contact our Cloud Partner Manager for more information. Nigel Cullum [email protected]

5 8 9 Learning and development by ACT ACT sponsors European Bus Forum 2014 Learn how to get the most out of your solution from ACT. Our high-quality training is delivered by our dedicated in-house Learning and Development team to give you the knowledge and skills to make the most of our systems. Meet the team A choice of half and full day courses are available on the HOPS, CMS, Retail POST, and the essentials of ITSO and smart ticketing. Training can be delivered either at ACT s offices in Chippenham or Manchester, or at a location convenient for you. For remote workers, or times when only a quick refresher is needed, we can also deliver training via web conferencing using Cisco s Webex system. Leading figures from the European bus sector will debate sector developments at the European Bus Forum taking place in Manchester on 2 July ACT will be exhibiting at the event to demonstrate the latest advances in ticket retailing and fulfilment in conjunction with its Cloud Partners. ACT s Cloud Ticketing service is taking smart ticketing to the high street through its Cloud Partner network. At the event, it will demonstrate its transport ticketing and payment platform with hands-on demonstrations of smart ticket purchase and collection on a range of devices such as smart phones, tablets and high street retail POS terminals. Also at the event will be a new panel session on vehicle specification. Fleet and engineering executives, along with vehicle manufacturers and technology suppliers will debate optimum vehicle design and technological innovations in bus operations. Key event themes Operator investment and development plans Transport ticketing: advances in retailing and fulfilment methods Use of mobile devices and apps in the bus industry How buses help to deliver local transport policies Providing frequent and reliable services against a backdrop of cuts The role of technology in making the bus networks more attractive to the public The Learning and Development Team is led by Ceri, an experienced technical trainer with a background in SaaS systems and marketing analytics. Supporting Ceri is Jane, who is experienced in retail POS systems and environments. Please visit our page on the ACT website where you can download our brochure: / services/learning-anddevelopment/ [email protected] 20% off for ACT customers As proud sponsors of the European Bus Forum 2014 ACT is pleased to offer its customers a 20% discount on the delegate pass. Please contact your account manager for more information or visit the event s online registration system and enter the code SPNACT20 to take advantage of the discount.

6 10 11 About ACT ACT is a proven leader in the design, build and management of smart transaction systems that help people make the most of their work, leisure and travel time. Our clients use our technology solutions to speed commuters through public transport, to help shoppers earn rewards, to provide access to public services and to make it easy for visitors to explore new places. Our systems are trusted by retail, tourism, public sector and transport organisations large and small, and are at the heart of major cities around the world from Malta to London to Bruges. Find out more To learn more about how we can help you connect with your customers through our smart transaction systems please get in touch. T +44(0) F +44(0) E [email protected] W About squid squid emoney is the alternative to the debit and credit card networks for smaller value contactless transactions - a market forecast to grow rapidly, replacing some of the 200bn cash transactions made each year in the UK. Deploying its own technologies, squid delivers a significantly faster transaction than chip and pin, and has the flexibility to deliver multi-purse transactions and loyalty. squid payments are made using a contactless smart card, via biometric identifiers or online. Transactions are secure and encrypted between the payment device, the terminal and the squid payments engine. In education, squid brings the power of modern IP systems to deliver efficient payments, settlement and integration with the back office, combined with a great user experience. squid works with major equipment and service suppliers to deliver its fast, flexible and secure payments solution. These include EPOS systems, smart card and biometric suppliers, catering service operators accounts software providers, as well as local Councils and Transit operators. Find out more To learn more about squid please visit Applied Card Techologies Ltd Langley Gate, Kington Langley, Chippenham, Wiltshire. SN15 5SE ACT and squid are part of the Smart Transactions Group Smart Transactions Group is the UK leader in contactless payments and ticketing, processing millions of contactless transit and payments transactions every day, but with ambitions for much greater scale in the UK and international markets. The group was created by bringing together two UK companies; next generation digital payments company, squid, and ACT.