CMA Finalists are announced, Transport makes a comeback
Let’s take the second part of the title first - ‘Transport makes a comeback’. Although many would say it never went away, I feel that coverage of the transportation industry as a contactless catalyst kind of dissipated. Specifically when Transport for London announced that users could use their contactless credit or debit cards to travel on public transport around the country’s metropolis. It was a big deal - one recognised around the world - what could be bigger than that? Game over.
Or is it? I wrote an editorial at the end of January that touched on an idea of using a smart ticketing scheme in the UK that would have the potential to make individual cities’ transport networks simpler and more accessible, increase the number and length of journeys made by individuals, and boost efficiency and revenues for operators. Manchester and Sheffield’s respective devolution deals, which were agreed in 2014, included the opportunity to introduce smart ticketing systems, and similar schemes could be introduced as more cities agree new devolved powers. However, to be truly transformational for the wider country region as well as individual city regions, cities’ smart ticketing schemes would have to be designed to integrate those of neighbouring cities in the future.
Nathan Marsh, an infrastructure specialist who has helped to plan and deliver smart ticketing projects in major UK cities such as Manchester and Birmingham was quoted as saying “London saw a significant increase in distances travelled on public transport between 2000 and 2010, which was partly induced by the introduction of the Oyster card in 2003. Equally, the rapid take up of contactless Europay, MasterCard and Visa (EMV) systems on bus and now underground rail networks shows that customers want a single, consistent experience across all modes of transport and boundaries. A similar initiative not just in individual cities but right across the entire North of England, coupled with the major transport infrastructure investment we’re likely to see over the coming years, could have a comparable impact – helping to connect an increasingly mobile workforce with businesses right across the North and contributing to economic growth.”
So it was with interest that that I read last week about a report from a Transport Think Tank recommending the Chancellor to use this month's budget to give £15 billion to the North East. They recommend creating a 'Transport for North' network, imitating the existing Transport for London. It said the body would be built out of the existing Transport for the North alliance set up last year by the government. IPPR North (the authors of the report) have set out a 10-year blueprint for what they think Transport for North (TfN) should do, including one vital recommendation for the contactless industry; Move towards a contactless, cross-boundary ticketing system - using mobile phones and contactless payments for journeys across different modes of transport.
This could be another huge step in contactless adoption outside of London. Other commentators agree.
Will Judge, head of urban mobility at MasterCard said: “The creation of Transport for the North presents a huge opportunity to advance the public transport infrastructure of the region and for the UK. Ticketing, payments and mobile technology are converging, and this presents huge potential to improve the transportation experience, and deliver costs savings for operators. We know from working with authorities in cities such as London, Chicago and Athens the benefits of implementing smarter payment systems on businesses, jobs and the increased convenience to users. In London, three million daily commuters and 19 million annual visitors can now benefit from the ease, speed and security which contactless payments bring. Reduced complexity in the system and increased traveller confidence has added to the number of passengers travelling on TfL services. The importance of how we access travel services should not be underestimated, so if public transport operators in the north can embrace smarter systems, the results can help create much a more inclusive and connected region for decades to come.”
There is still plenty of life in public transport for contactless technology adoption.
Onto the second part of our headline (after reader feedback from last week’s MWC - I’m trying to keep my editorial pieces shorter…); the CMA 2015 Finalists have been announced! I could go on at length and cover which Finalists made the first round but there are 44 Finalists, so that could take a while. Instead you can click the link here or the banner below and you will be taken to the page on Contactless Intelligence that covers the subject in far more detail. We had more entries than ever before and so it took a lot longer than previous years to whittle the names down to just 44 contenders. Best of luck to all that made it through and I am glad that from now on, it’s out of our hands and into the hands of the judges.
I will be covering the Finalists in more detail over the next few weeks as the run-up to the show begins so look out for more in-depth posts covering the Finalists and their product/solution/application. And if you made it to the finals - don’t forget that next month we will once more be opening up voting on the Industry Choice Award and that it itself can be a real game changer. It’s the only award that can achieve a David vs. Goliath moment and is completely dependent upon how badly you want to win!
For now though, here are the Finalists for this year’s 2015 CMAs.
Until next week,
Steve Atkins
Contactless Intelligence
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