Survey of Tallahassee’s Bus System Assessed Before and After Impacts of a Mobile Fare Payment App from 95 Users and 44 Bus Operators.
Tallahassee, Florida, United States
An evaluation of the benefits of mobile fare payment technology from the user and operator perspectives
Summary Information
Mobile technologies for fare payment in public transit systems have the potential to improve transit user experiences and attract or retain riders. The study investigated the adoption of a mobile fare payment app within the Tallahassee, Florida bus system, StarMetro, which includes approximately 20 fixed and 2 flexible routes. The bus riders and operators first participated in a baseline survey online in September 2017. Following the app's two-month deployment, a follow-up survey was distributed in November 2017 to assess changes in user experience. A total of 95 users completed the app user survey. Additionally, from January to March 2018, 44 bus operators were surveyed regarding their experience with accepting mobile app-based fare payments.
METHODOLOGY
The researchers in this study developed a series of hypotheses for evaluating the potential benefits of mobile fare payment technologies:
- H1: Mobile fare payment users increase the number of trips that they take on transit.
- H2: Mobile fare payment users are more flexible when they ride transit.
- H3: Mobile fare payments make it easier to purchase transit passes.
- H4: Mobile fare payment users spend less time purchasing transit passes.
- H5: Mobile fare payment users carry less cash with them when riding transit.
- H6: Mobile fare payment users are more aware of how much money they spend on transit.
- H7: Mobile fare payment users can board the transit vehicle faster.
FINDINGS
- The user survey revealed that about 75 percent of the app users reported spending less time purchasing transit passes and approximately 64 percent of the app users perceived faster boarding times when mobile fare payments were used. The operator survey indicated that 68 percent of bus operators stated spending less time collecting fares and about 75 percent of operators perceived faster boarding times with the usage of the mobile app for fare purchases.
- The app users reported reductions in cash usage for fare payments, specifically, 68 percent of the app users stated that they used less cash during the study period. Additionally, 50 percent of bus operators reported collecting less cash during the study period.
