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Brandon Long

Business Development Manager

The mantra for all transit operators is simple: reduce costs and increase traveler satisfaction levels. However, market forces work to undermine these goals in revenue management. 

After the 2019 American Public Transportation Association (APTA) Tech Conference, I heard the need to get back to basics with revenue management in today’s age of a multi-modal transportation system.

With the industry turning to a single payment program for multiple modes, transit operators have begun to realize that putting the traveler first is only a first step in effective revenue management.

To be successful at finding ways to reduce costs while maintaining traveler satisfaction, operators must utilize creative initiatives that will produce savings and allow them to remain efficient.

Considering we process over 24 billion transactions every year, I'd like to share some of our global best practices around fare collection, revenue management, fulfillment and settlement from a program operations level. 

The best practices presented below represent strategies to optimize revenue management. 

  1. Stretch out and maintain your splits. | A fare collection system should be flexible to support evolving payment technologies while allowing travelers and operators to choose from a mix of products and services that reduce operational costs. Additionally, each system accommodates the growing demand for integration with third-party service providers. As multi-modal transportation options continue to increase in popularity, flexibility will be important in order to keep up with the demands of riders.
  1. Always make new friends. | Be open to a variety of business and financial rules with agency partners, such as retail network partners, employers providing pretax benefits, schools, and other institutional partners. Allow an open API to enable self-service partner websites or mobile apps.
  1. Don’t think too far out of the box. | When it comes to payment processing, everyone is looking for a new way to be more efficient with quick processing time to get travelers off and running to their next destination. It’s important to consider a comprehensive payment processing subsystem, supporting multiple types of payments – one that includes a PA-DSS certified gateway that supports transit specific transactions such as payment aggregation.
  1. Manage your data like you manage your money. | Ensure data security accuracy and traceability in a data-heavy environment. System data is required for time-sensitive functionality and for standard reporting on ridership, revenue, and other operational functions. It is also valuable for improving service and optimizing operations, facilitating future planning and decision making, and allows operators to spot trends and act accordingly.
  1. Support transactions of a different color. | One of the best revenue management supports fare calculation and transaction processing for all transit payment instruments, including closed-loop cards or open payment bankcards and mobile wallets, in both card-based and account-based transactions. Revenue management platforms are best when they are customized to the travelers’ needs, with future scalability built-in for operators – whether card-based, account-based or open payment “pay as you go.”
  1. Set and follow the rules; there are rules for a reason. | A comprehensive clearinghouse rules engine supports complex apportionment and financial business agreements, with an open API for automated general ledger postings providing the flexibility to work with an accounting provider of your choice.
  1. Keep your accounting 101 book close, but your IT team closer. Keep a pulse on attacks happening in the broader IT world ensuring traveler information is protected at all times.
  1. Welcome bike share with open arms. | With the growth of multimodal travel, the performance of an intelligent urban transportation system depends on the seamless integration of diverse components. To accommodate mobility as a service, operators should implement a revenue management system that allows them to manage complex, multimodal transportation networks while offering travelers a single account to manage all their travel needs.
  1. Secure the base of your pyramid. | A transit fare collection program is only as good as its foundation – the people servicing the program 24x7x365. 

 
  1. Provide options, but not 31 flavors. | By advancing developments in data communications and solving complex technical challenges, suppliers can now provide convenience and simplicity to travelers. Whether it’s paying directly from a contactless bankcard, NFC-enabled mobile phone or a pre-funded transit account – it’s about choice.

 

With more than twelve years of finance, sales, and transportation program experience, Brandon Long, has helped transit agencies of all sizes develop their goals and strike inefficiencies. He has researched innovative solutions for cities and regions to meet their transportation policy goals and helped transit agencies advance some of the most significant transit projects.

A sampling of his contributions to better transit includes creating business solutions for transportation providers in the western United States and facilitating collaboration between payment solutions providers, mobile technologies, new transportation solutions, and rider-focused applications.

In his current role, Brandon manages business development efforts for Cubic Transportation Systems in Southern California and is focused on assisting Los Angeles Metro in advancing the state of their automated fare collection system, the TAP program, to expand its reach and accommodate supportive mobility providers through integrated fare payment.

Brandon is an alumnus of Pepperdine University and holds an MBA from the Anderson School of Management at UCLA.

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