{"id":16804,"date":"2016-11-23T15:00:00","date_gmt":"2016-11-23T15:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/masabidev.wpengine.com\/news\/top-challenges-facing-fare-collection-teams-across-north-america\/"},"modified":"2016-11-23T15:00:00","modified_gmt":"2016-11-23T15:00:00","slug":"top-challenges-facing-fare-collection-teams-across-north-america","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.masabi.com\/it\/news\/top-challenges-facing-fare-collection-teams-across-north-america\/","title":{"rendered":"Top Challenges Facing Fare Collection Teams Across North America"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\n
\n
\n
To better understand the\u00a0current fare collection challenges\u00a0<\/span>transit agencies\u00a0<\/span>are facing,\u00a0<\/span>we\u00a0conducted a survey in partnership with The Transit Wire<\/a><\/strong><\/em>.\u00a0<\/span>The survey was geared toward transit agencies and the consultants who work with them. Over 100 transit professionals completed the survey. The majority of respondents (71%) worked at transit agencies, 23% were consultants, and 6% worked at other government agencies.<\/span>\u00a0<\/div>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

The survey presented a list of potential challenges and respondents were asked to select as many as applied to their agency. Most respondents indicated that their agency encountered multiple challenges, and 71% identified at least three issues.\u00a0Major concerns focused on the cost of upgrading or maintaining a fare collection system, cash handling, fare evasion, and managing expectations.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Screen<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\n

Concerns About Costs<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

The capital cost of introducing or upgrading a fare collection system was by far the most commonly cited concern, with 60% of respondents saying that this was a challenge for their agency. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Capital costs for installing or upgrading a fare collection system, including new fareboxes and fare- gates, can run into the millions \u2013 and hundreds of millions for very large regional systems \u2013 and not every agency is in a position to make the investment. One respondent from a rural agency echoed this concern, writing: <\/span>\u201cwhile getting away from the traditional cash farebox [is desirable], the cap- ital costs to retrofit our fleet don\u2019t justify the transition.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

And the costs don\u2019t end with installation. Respondents cited concerns over the operational and maintenance costs of legacy fare collection systems (41%). Depending on the extant technology, agencies may have to maintain turnstiles, fareboxes, and ticket vending machines along with the software that supports the fare system. One in three respondents (33%) identified issues with reliability of fare media or the fare system, both of which clearly affect the costs of maintaining the payment system. <\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\n
\n

Collecting and Counting Cash<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Respondents also reported challenges with handling cash. Defined broadly as collection, processing, and potential leakage, some 41% identified this as a concern. At the same time, some agencies flagged the equity issues of going cashless. One commenter described the situation: <\/span>\u201csocial equity with limited english-speaking populations which prefer to use cash instead of a transit card and\/or not having a credit card to load fare or pass onto a card.<\/strong><\/em>\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Given the high reliance on visual inspection, it is not surprising that fare evasion or ticket fraud was one of the top five challenges identified (39%). In the words of one respondent, for some agencies the issue is <\/span>\u201cinsufficient resources for proper fare enforcement.<\/em><\/strong>\u201d <\/span>Another put it this way: <\/span>\u201cour accepted mantra: \u2019Drivers can\u2019t be fare cops.<\/em><\/strong>\u2019\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Managing Expectations\u00a0<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Transit managers have to address the needs of multiple stakeholders when introducing or upgrading a fare collection system. Some 32% of respondents expressed frustration with the speed of innovation, and equal numbers cited internal barriers to innovation and stakeholder expectations as challenges (25% for each). Several comments helped illustrate the issues: <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cCustomer needs\/expectations are changing at a rapid pace – our current older smartcard system does not allow us to leverage new opportunities.\u201d<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cour customers (many, not all) want mobile fare payment and instant card top up from smartphones, but regional fare system isn\u2019t there yet and we can\u2019t launch our own without permission.\u201d <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cCoordination of electronic fare systems and fares\/transfers across multiple transit agencies in the region\u201d <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201crapidly changing technology created passenger demand for fare media that we are not yet prepared to support.\u201d<\/em> <\/strong><\/p>\n

As these comments suggest, fare technology and customer expectations are changing faster than some transit agencies can keep up.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

The full results of this survey are featured in The Transit Wire\u00a0Research Report: The State of Transit Fare Collection<\/a><\/strong><\/em>. To download the report click on the image below.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"twtsofc.png\"<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

To better understand the\u00a0current fare collection challenges\u00a0transit agencies\u00a0are facing,\u00a0we\u00a0conducted a survey in partnership with The Transit Wire.\u00a0The survey was geared toward transit agencies and the consultants who work with them. Over 100 transit professionals completed the survey. The majority of respondents (71%) worked at transit agencies, 23% were consultants, and 6% worked at other government […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":26,"featured_media":16800,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[107],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-16804","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blog","blog"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nTop Challenges Facing Fare Collection Teams Across North America - Masabi<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.masabi.com\/it\/news\/top-challenges-facing-fare-collection-teams-across-north-america\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"it_IT\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Top Challenges Facing Fare Collection Teams Across North America - Masabi\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"To better understand the\u00a0current fare collection challenges\u00a0transit agencies\u00a0are facing,\u00a0we\u00a0conducted a survey in partnership with The Transit Wire.\u00a0The survey was geared toward transit agencies and the consultants who work with them. Over 100 transit professionals completed the survey. The majority of respondents (71%) worked at transit agencies, 23% were consultants, and 6% worked at other government […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.masabi.com\/it\/news\/top-challenges-facing-fare-collection-teams-across-north-america\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Masabi\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2016-11-23T15:00:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.masabi.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/hubspot-b640a6bb2056a070f502.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1764\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"948\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"James Gooch\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Scritto da\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"James Gooch\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Tempo di lettura stimato\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minuti\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.masabi.com\\\/it\\\/news\\\/top-challenges-facing-fare-collection-teams-across-north-america\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.masabi.com\\\/it\\\/news\\\/top-challenges-facing-fare-collection-teams-across-north-america\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"James Gooch\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.masabi.com\\\/it\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/d0b8c23067fee654a30fe7dff740fbcf\"},\"headline\":\"Top Challenges Facing Fare Collection Teams Across North America\",\"datePublished\":\"2016-11-23T15:00:00+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.masabi.com\\\/it\\\/news\\\/top-challenges-facing-fare-collection-teams-across-north-america\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":625,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.masabi.com\\\/it\\\/news\\\/top-challenges-facing-fare-collection-teams-across-north-america\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.masabi.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/09\\\/hubspot-b640a6bb2056a070f502.png\",\"articleSection\":[\"Blog\"],\"inLanguage\":\"it-IT\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.masabi.com\\\/it\\\/news\\\/top-challenges-facing-fare-collection-teams-across-north-america\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.masabi.com\\\/it\\\/news\\\/top-challenges-facing-fare-collection-teams-across-north-america\\\/\",\"name\":\"Top Challenges Facing Fare Collection Teams Across North America - Masabi\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.masabi.com\\\/it\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.masabi.com\\\/it\\\/news\\\/top-challenges-facing-fare-collection-teams-across-north-america\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.masabi.com\\\/it\\\/news\\\/top-challenges-facing-fare-collection-teams-across-north-america\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.masabi.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/09\\\/hubspot-b640a6bb2056a070f502.png\",\"datePublished\":\"2016-11-23T15:00:00+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.masabi.com\\\/it\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/d0b8c23067fee654a30fe7dff740fbcf\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.masabi.com\\\/it\\\/news\\\/top-challenges-facing-fare-collection-teams-across-north-america\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"it-IT\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.masabi.com\\\/it\\\/news\\\/top-challenges-facing-fare-collection-teams-across-north-america\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"it-IT\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.masabi.com\\\/it\\\/news\\\/top-challenges-facing-fare-collection-teams-across-north-america\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.masabi.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/09\\\/hubspot-b640a6bb2056a070f502.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.masabi.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/09\\\/hubspot-b640a6bb2056a070f502.png\",\"width\":1764,\"height\":948},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.masabi.com\\\/it\\\/news\\\/top-challenges-facing-fare-collection-teams-across-north-america\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.masabi.com\\\/it\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Top Challenges Facing Fare Collection Teams Across North America\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.masabi.com\\\/it\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.masabi.com\\\/it\\\/\",\"name\":\"Masabi\",\"description\":\"Making shared transport the first choice\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.masabi.com\\\/it\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"it-IT\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.masabi.com\\\/it\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/d0b8c23067fee654a30fe7dff740fbcf\",\"name\":\"James Gooch\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"it-IT\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/5d2e360ecf0b2288fd155d3561994272dbf2d17b30d69bc9259fc79ee6192e14?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/5d2e360ecf0b2288fd155d3561994272dbf2d17b30d69bc9259fc79ee6192e14?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/5d2e360ecf0b2288fd155d3561994272dbf2d17b30d69bc9259fc79ee6192e14?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"James Gooch\"},\"description\":\"An accomplished marketing leader, James Gooch serves as the Head of Marketing at Masabi, a global technology company specializing in innovative ticketing and payment systems for public transit. Masabi is the category creator and leader for public transit mobile ticketing and Fare Payments-as-a-Service - a better way of delivering ticketing systems for cities of all sizes, helping them reduce costs, risk and enable constant innovation.\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Top Challenges Facing Fare Collection Teams Across North America - Masabi","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.masabi.com\/it\/news\/top-challenges-facing-fare-collection-teams-across-north-america\/","og_locale":"it_IT","og_type":"article","og_title":"Top Challenges Facing Fare Collection Teams Across North America - Masabi","og_description":"To better understand the\u00a0current fare collection challenges\u00a0transit agencies\u00a0are facing,\u00a0we\u00a0conducted a survey in partnership with The Transit Wire.\u00a0The survey was geared toward transit agencies and the consultants who work with them. Over 100 transit professionals completed the survey. The majority of respondents (71%) worked at transit agencies, 23% were consultants, and 6% worked at other government […]","og_url":"https:\/\/www.masabi.com\/it\/news\/top-challenges-facing-fare-collection-teams-across-north-america\/","og_site_name":"Masabi","article_published_time":"2016-11-23T15:00:00+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1764,"height":948,"url":"https:\/\/www.masabi.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/hubspot-b640a6bb2056a070f502.png","type":"image\/png"}],"author":"James Gooch","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Scritto da":"James Gooch","Tempo di lettura stimato":"3 minuti"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.masabi.com\/it\/news\/top-challenges-facing-fare-collection-teams-across-north-america\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.masabi.com\/it\/news\/top-challenges-facing-fare-collection-teams-across-north-america\/"},"author":{"name":"James Gooch","@id":"https:\/\/www.masabi.com\/it\/#\/schema\/person\/d0b8c23067fee654a30fe7dff740fbcf"},"headline":"Top Challenges Facing Fare Collection Teams Across North America","datePublished":"2016-11-23T15:00:00+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.masabi.com\/it\/news\/top-challenges-facing-fare-collection-teams-across-north-america\/"},"wordCount":625,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.masabi.com\/it\/news\/top-challenges-facing-fare-collection-teams-across-north-america\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.masabi.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/hubspot-b640a6bb2056a070f502.png","articleSection":["Blog"],"inLanguage":"it-IT"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.masabi.com\/it\/news\/top-challenges-facing-fare-collection-teams-across-north-america\/","url":"https:\/\/www.masabi.com\/it\/news\/top-challenges-facing-fare-collection-teams-across-north-america\/","name":"Top Challenges Facing Fare Collection Teams Across North America - Masabi","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.masabi.com\/it\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.masabi.com\/it\/news\/top-challenges-facing-fare-collection-teams-across-north-america\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.masabi.com\/it\/news\/top-challenges-facing-fare-collection-teams-across-north-america\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.masabi.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/hubspot-b640a6bb2056a070f502.png","datePublished":"2016-11-23T15:00:00+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.masabi.com\/it\/#\/schema\/person\/d0b8c23067fee654a30fe7dff740fbcf"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.masabi.com\/it\/news\/top-challenges-facing-fare-collection-teams-across-north-america\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"it-IT","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.masabi.com\/it\/news\/top-challenges-facing-fare-collection-teams-across-north-america\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"it-IT","@id":"https:\/\/www.masabi.com\/it\/news\/top-challenges-facing-fare-collection-teams-across-north-america\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.masabi.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/hubspot-b640a6bb2056a070f502.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.masabi.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/hubspot-b640a6bb2056a070f502.png","width":1764,"height":948},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.masabi.com\/it\/news\/top-challenges-facing-fare-collection-teams-across-north-america\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.masabi.com\/it\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Top Challenges Facing Fare Collection Teams Across North America"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.masabi.com\/it\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.masabi.com\/it\/","name":"Masabi","description":"Making shared transport the first choice","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.masabi.com\/it\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"it-IT"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.masabi.com\/it\/#\/schema\/person\/d0b8c23067fee654a30fe7dff740fbcf","name":"James Gooch","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"it-IT","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/5d2e360ecf0b2288fd155d3561994272dbf2d17b30d69bc9259fc79ee6192e14?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/5d2e360ecf0b2288fd155d3561994272dbf2d17b30d69bc9259fc79ee6192e14?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/5d2e360ecf0b2288fd155d3561994272dbf2d17b30d69bc9259fc79ee6192e14?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"James Gooch"},"description":"An accomplished marketing leader, James Gooch serves as the Head of Marketing at Masabi, a global technology company specializing in innovative ticketing and payment systems for public transit. Masabi is the category creator and leader for public transit mobile ticketing and Fare Payments-as-a-Service - a better way of delivering ticketing systems for cities of all sizes, helping them reduce costs, risk and enable constant innovation."}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.masabi.com\/it\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16804","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.masabi.com\/it\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.masabi.com\/it\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.masabi.com\/it\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/26"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.masabi.com\/it\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16804"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.masabi.com\/it\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16804\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.masabi.com\/it\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/16800"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.masabi.com\/it\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16804"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.masabi.com\/it\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16804"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.masabi.com\/it\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16804"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}