6 ways an open and modular architecture can help public transit agencies implement account-based ticketing
21 September 2023,
Mark Flanigan, Head of Architecture at Vix, outlines the benefits of adopting open and modular technology for account-based ticketing systems.
The future of public transit is changing rapidly, with many different challenges facing agencies.
As transit agencies look to transition to Account-Based Ticketing and Open Payments for their fare collection systems, it’s important to look at how they can lay the groundwork for future expansion through open and modular architectures.
6 benefits of a modular account-based ticketing system:
- Improved data sharing
- Greater flexibility
- Enhanced security
- Reduced costs
- Increased innovation
- Improved scalability
Some of the key advantages to an open and modular architecture are:
1. Improved data sharing
Open and modular architecture allows different systems to share data easily and securely, which makes it easier for transit agencies to track ridership patterns and understand how passengers use their services.
2. Greater flexibility
Open and modular architecture allows transit agencies to add new components to their systems in accordance with trends in the market and in line with their budget, without having to replace the entire system. This helps ensure that their systems remain up-to-date and can adapt to changing needs over time, as well as getting the most value out of their investments in technology.
3. Enhanced security
Open and modular architecture solutions typically provide higher levels of security than closed systems because they allow for greater customization and integration with other security measures.
4. Reduced costs
Open and modular architectures can reduce the cost of integrating different components into a single system. This means lower installation costs as well as reduced maintenance expenses over time.
5. Increased innovation
By fostering collaboration between partners across multiple platforms, open and modular architectures encourage innovation by enabling faster development cycles and quicker delivery times for new features.
6. Improved scalability
Open and modular architecture allows for easy scalability as transit agencies can implement a full solution or scale down to a lighter version depending on their needs and where they are in their journey to a new account based ticketing system.
Implementing a modular account-based ticketing system
These benefits are why we built Pulse, our account-based ticketing system, as an API first platform which is modular and open at its core. This has enabled different customers and partners to integrate with the Pulse platform or use Pulse modules directly depending on their business needs. So far we have over 30 different integrations with partners and customers on our deployment including websites, retail, vending machines, ITS, data, financial ERPs, monitoring, and service desks as part of an enterprise solution within the various agencies.
Some of our most recent features include a full Business to Business solution for agencies to manage local employers, universities and other business customers of transit agencies, enhanced capping rules in a zonal fare system, full support for an integrated Call Centre and IVR solution on Salesforce, and a mobile integration with our core ABT engine delivering both mobile ticketing and pay as you go.
And we have plenty more features in the pipeline, all backed by our API first strategy and modular architecture. Because Pulse is continually evolving, that means we can deliver a solution that meets transit agencies’ changing needs too. Keep an eye out for the latest features that we are delivering to enable transit agencies to achieve their goals in an open, modular and flexible way.