{"id":12441,"date":"2022-02-21T13:26:30","date_gmt":"2022-02-21T13:26:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/masabidev.wpengine.com\/news\/is-it-the-end-of-the-road-for-the-farebox\/"},"modified":"2022-03-02T21:50:48","modified_gmt":"2022-03-02T21:50:48","slug":"is-it-the-end-of-the-road-for-the-farebox","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.masabi.com\/it\/news\/is-it-the-end-of-the-road-for-the-farebox\/","title":{"rendered":"Is it the end of the road for the farebox?"},"content":{"rendered":"
In this post we will explore how cities have reduced or removed cash onboard buses while ensuring or enhancing equity and why this is important in helping increase ridership. Topics covered include:<\/p>\n
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    1. Why remove (or reduce) cash purchases on the bus?<\/span><\/li>\n
    2. How to remove cash from the bus, equitably<\/span><\/li>\n
    3. Case Study: Greater Dayton Regional Transit Authority Launches Tapp Pay and Removes Fareboxes<\/span><\/li>\n
    4. A win-win for riders and transit agencies<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

      Buses are designed to transport dozens of people in comfort, safety and a timely manner to their destination. It\u2019s a complex operation that benefits from any opportunities to simplify it.<\/p>\n

      But things get even more complex when the bus draws up to a halt and turns, temporarily, into a shop selling tickets. While passengers use the farebox to pay, the bus is no longer moving.<\/p>\n

      The driver may need to field questions about fares, advise on the tickets required and issue change to riders who don\u2019t have the correct fare.<\/p>\n

      Worst of all, everyone\u2019s journey on the bus is now longer than necessary.<\/p>\n

      Research shows that it can take up to 15 seconds for each passenger paying cash to board a bus \u2013 that could add up to a dwell time of five minutes on a fixed route if 20 people on that route want to pay cash for their tickets. On a busy commuter route with many riders getting on and off the bus, that could lead to long delays during the rush hour.<\/p>\n

      In many parts of the world, bus systems have removed cash transactions onboard or reduced them to a minor retail channel.<\/p>\n

      This is not the case in North America and particularly in the US, where the high proportion of unbanked and underbanked riders has meant agencies have been more cautious in removing fareboxes.<\/p>\n

      Equity is such an important topic and is key for agencies around the globe. When it comes to fare payments, it\u2019s fairly simple: all riders need to be able to\u00a0 travel, no matter their circumstances, and all rider groups should be able to benefit from the same fare payment experiences.<\/p>\n

      Removing cash from the bus does NOT mean excluding cash riders. When talking about removing cash onboard buses, it\u2019s imperative to ensure that cash riders are fully supported \u2013 and this can now be achieved without accepting cash payment onboard buses.<\/p>\n

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      We\u2019ll share an example from Dayton, Ohio who (we believe) became the first agency in the US to remove their fareboxes and go cash-free onboard their buses and we\u2019ll also reveal how Dayton was able to take cash off the buses while increasing fare equity for riders.<\/p>\n

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      \"remove<\/p>\n

      Why remove (or reduce) cash purchases on the bus?<\/strong><\/h2>\n

      There are a number of reasons why transit agencies and transport operators would want to remove cash off the bus.<\/p>\n

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      1. Reduce dwell times (Increased convenience)<\/strong>. It takes 9 to 15 seconds to board passengers using onboard cash transactions, if it goes smoothly. By removing cash transactions from the bus, the bus spends less time being a shop and more time on the move \u2013 great for people trying to get onboard and those trying to get to their destination.<\/li>\n
      2. Reduce hardware and maintenance costs.<\/strong> By removing devices which collect cash and issue tickets, transit agencies are able to remove the hardware and the maintenance associated with that hardware. In North America, fareboxes can be removed and in other countries cash collection infrastructure can be replaced<\/li>\n
      3. Reduced cash handling costs.\u00a0<\/strong>Cash is expensive. It costs a lot of money, time and effort to sort, count and secure cash before it can be delivered for processing.\n
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        1. Remove Vaulting, the secure cash safe from under each on-bus farebox, and depositing it in the in-depot vault.<\/li>\n
        2. Remove cash counting and weighing in the depot’s secure cash facility with locked doors and high security.<\/li>\n
        3. Remove armoured trucks coming to get the cash regularly, and the bank charging extra to accept small denomination coins and bills.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/li>\n
        4. Reduced driver aggravation<\/strong>. Removing cash onboard vehicles, quite simply, makes drivers\u2019 lives easier, with less people questioning and querying tickets, not having the right change or issues with the farebox. Drivers can fully focus on driving the bus and passenger safety.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

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          How to remove cash from the bus, equitably<\/strong><\/h2>\n

          Removing cash from the bus comes with huge advantages for passengers, drivers and agencies. But there are good reasons why cities still operate systems offering cash onboard \u2013 equity.<\/p>\n

          If a city can\u2019t support cash-paying riders in a convenient way, then removing fareboxes becomes a huge challenge, or non-starter. However, it\u2019s now possible to take cash payments off the bus while increasing equity at the same time.<\/p>\n

          Whether you are a large capital city like London, or a smaller city like Dayton, the \u2018playbook\u2019 for removing cash onboard follows a similar model.<\/p>\n

          1. Ensure cash riders have comprehensive and convenient access to buy tickets with cash before they board<\/strong><\/h3>\n

          Ahead of announcing the end of cash fares on buses, London\u2019s TfL conducted an extensive consultation which attracted 37,000 responses. Around 20 per cent of the responses were submitted by cash-paying passengers who were opposed to the move to onboard cash-free ticketing.<\/p>\n

          The research identified three key groups who continue to pay cash onboard:<\/p>\n