One Account

The Problem

Today's traveler hurries from original to destination. A typical journey may involve two or three modes of transportation, such as a car, a train, and a bus.

For each of mode choice, travelers are making decisions in a silo - they cannot tell from one central information source if the road ahead is clear, parking is available, and the train and bus are on time. Equally, the rail and bus operators may be different, requiring travelers to carry two different fare. For transportation operators, the problem is even worse - they cannot optimize the transportation network and inform travelers of alternatives or offer incentives to alter the typical travel route to help reduce peak hour congestion. It is clear the fragmented systems and services that the transportation industry relies on today are no longer suitable to deal with today's variety of modes and travel patterns.

Transportation has reached a transition point, from which there is only one way forward – toward greater integration.

One Account | For Agencies & Travelers from Cubic

The Challenge

We understand the four key challenges behind agencies reaching a One Account system to be:

Integration: Card-based systems have a number of specific limitations, which make further integration difficult. Supporting complex fare rules for multiple service providers and different transportation modes can become difficult and time-consuming.
Security: As the security standards for accepting credit and debit cards become increasingly stringent, implementing new systems can create additional work for service providers, which may need to deal with testing and certification.
Architecture: Card-based architectures have made it difficult and expensive to keep pace with rapidly evolving technologies and the opportunities these create for further multimodal integration.
Evolution: Rapid developments in mobile technologies, contactless payments and cloud services made in the last few years, have shifted the way consumers think about and interact with transportation services.

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One Account | For Agencies & Travelers from Cubic

The Solution

What if going somewhere were as simple as getting on the train, bus or any other service with an identification method riders already own? It could be their mobile phone, watch, credit card, university or school ID. And what if the phone, watch, card and anything else they use are all linked to an account that they have set up, which in turn is linked to a payment source so that when they travel, the fare is automatically calculated and paid for and they are immediately notified of the charge? All that is left for them to do is to focus on their journey.

This, in a nutshell, is what Cubic calls One Account – a system where transportation service providers in a region participate and agree to use a single account for the management and administration of fares and payments.

By bringing together disparate service providers, One Account can help public transportation authorities manage travel needs in one single point to optimize the whole transportation system.

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The Results

Reduced Production Costs: Since travelers pay with devices they already have, service providers can reduce costs associated with issuing, collecting and managing fare media. Service providers can also lower payments processing costs by sharing a common payment gateway and, with customers funding One Account, by processing a lower overall number of transactions.
Added Convenience: Travelers can make deposits into online transportation accounts or with mobile devices. The increased convenience helps improve customer usage and satisfaction, both among local residents and visitors.
Ease of Integration: When it comes to integration, account-based systems allow all the public and private providers within a region, from ferries to bike-sharing services to trains to tolling, to share the same customer administration and payment infrastructure.

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