The reason for integrating digital journey planning and ticketing in the first place all starts with the end user.
Passengers demand accurate, real-time information and ease of use. Failure to deliver can result in organisational inefficiencies, reduced ridership and lost revenue. However, integration can represent a major challenge for fare payment software providers.
In this article, we explore the hidden pitfalls of poor integration with some actionable tips to avoid these problems. By tackling these issues from the outset, ticketing companies will be better able to meet transport provider and passenger expectations. Not only will this save a great deal of time, money and resources, it will protect their long-term growth in the process.
Integration as a Driver for Growth
Research highlights the growing demand for integrated digital ticketing and journey planning. A survey by Transport Scotland showed that 82% of respondents rely on operators’ apps and websites for travel information, with 98% valuing real-time updates and disruption alerts. Across the globe, governments are prioritising personalised, data-driven approaches to mobility.
This is backed up by Frost & Sullivan who analysed over 30 cities across North America and Europe, identifying digital integration as a major driver of growth in the public transport sector. The findings show how integrated solutions can enhance efficiency, improve customer experience, save money and generate new revenue streams.
This presents a clear opportunity to leverage advanced journey planning and ticketing technologies to optimise operational performance and foster innovation in public transit systems. By creating a clear framework for successful implementation, ticketing companies can elevate their role as the go-to provider who can help their client navigate the complexities of bringing these types of applications to the market.
The Common Pitfalls – And Solutions
However, the road to robust integration is challenging to say the least. The transport industry is complex and fragmented, with digital transformations often being poorly integrated due to three key mistakes: building tools in-house, choosing the wrong tool, or selecting an unsuitable integration partner. Let’s take a look at each one in turn.
Building Journey Planning Software In-House
This may seem like a sensible way forward with the expectation of full control over features and customisation. But many organisations underestimate just how difficult it is and often end up recreating features that already exist in proven tools. Building a reliable system requires expertise in journey planning from advanced algorithms and real-time data processing to user experience design. These skills may not exist in-house or, if they do, may result in existing resources being spread far too thin.
With development stretching over months or years, an application can be needlessly delayed as costs escalate. Even when the tool is completed, it may not be flexible or scale easily and require regular software updates. These limitations cause technical inefficiencies, higher maintenance demands and operational bottlenecks, leading to time-consuming and costly workarounds.
Solution: Weigh up the total cost of ownership, scalability, and time-to-market when deciding whether to build or buy. It’s better to use proven digital journey planning apps from long-standing players (like SkedGo – obviously!). These will have been thoroughly tested in live environments and will more than likely be kept up-to-date with new features.
Choosing the Wrong Journey Planning Tool
Selecting the wrong third-party journey planning tool can create as many problems as building one from scratch. A lack of essential features like live updates, multimodal routing, or API compatibility can limit the app’s functionality. This can lead to data being siloed resulting in lost opportunities and a disjointed user experience.
High licensing fees, data access charges, and customisation expenses further inflate costs. If the tool doesn’t live up to expectations, switching providers can be a real headache. It means more onboarding, retraining, and downtime, all of which put extra pressure on budgets and operations.
Solution: Prioritise journey planning technology with a strong track record in integrations, real-time capabilities, and compatibility with existing systems. Make sure they have accessibility, environmental and personalisation features already built in. These are vital components given changing regulatory and societal requirements. Check their roadmap too. It’s important to know that the developer is committed to adapting and updating the software as the marketplace changes.
Choosing the Wrong Integration Partner
Even with the right tool, an inexperienced integration partner can derail the project. Common issues include poor project management, technical gaps in knowledge, a lack of experience in API utilisation, no proven framework for systems implementations and an inability to handle complex transport systems. Once again, this wastes both precious resources and a great deal of time trying to rectify problems caused by substandard performance.
A weak partner may also create vendor lock-in by using proprietary systems, making future updates or expansions difficult without their involvement. This limits long-term flexibility and can damage both the user experience and the ticketing company’s reputation if the partner underdelivers on functionality or reliability.
Solution: Choose a partner that not only has proven expertise and a portfolio of successful integrations, but is also easy to work with. Speak to their existing clients. It’s not so much about the challenges along the way but how a company solves them: quickly and efficiently, with strong communication throughout. Also make sure contracts are clear and expectations are set out in advance, including well-defined timelines and deliverables, can help to ensure a smoother implementation process too.
The Benefits of Getting It Right
The transport industry might be complex and fragmented but it is possible to avoid these pitfalls. By carefully evaluating the build-or-buy decision, selecting robust third-party tools, and partnering with experienced integration specialists, ticketing companies can launch fit-for-purpose applications much faster than they could do alone. Not only will this meet the expectations of transport providers and their passengers, it will also help to attract more passengers and drive long-term growth and innovation.
This article was originally published by SkedGo.
