Today, trains, buses and trams are the lifeblood of many urban centres, providing passengers with the means to contribute to economic and social growth, but can often face numerous obstacles ranging from technical issues to extreme overcrowding. As these municipalities grow in population, public transport networks face an increasing number of service challenges.
Industry leaders agree that when the public transport experience is seamless, cities thrive. It’s the core reason why many municipal governments prioritise service efficiency on their agendas, considering a network’s importance to the local economy.
However, passengers in major cities have seen a common trend in transport hubs. When numbers increase, quality of service tends to go down. Network administrators continue to seek solutions to provide consistently seamless passenger journeys even when resources are limited.
Modern critical infrastructure projects often leverage digital solutions that provide deep, data-driven insights into solving their complex challenges. For public transport, access control software can be a core component that can help deliver on the promise of a seamless travel experience.
The role of access control in public transport
Access control systems often include physical barriers in public transport hubs, where passengers use either paper tickets, cards or wireless technology to enter before paying the fare. Access methods can vary by system. The London Underground, for example, requires action at both entry and exit, with either paper tickets or RFID card tapping. In contrast, others, such as the New York City Subway, require card tap action only for entry, with paper tickets recently made obsolete.
Passengers often associate these public transport technologies with managing passenger traffic flow, preventing fare evasion and enhancing station security. While these are the primary purposes, systems are now playing a more fundamental role in public transport operations.
The number of journeys on prominent public transport networks worldwide continues to grow, as demonstrated by the consistent increase in passenger journeys on the London Underground, excluding the COVID-19 pandemic. However, over the past few years, customer satisfaction with the service has declined significantly.
Administrators of public transport hubs understand that seamless service is now an integral component of city prosperity. The role of access control systems can expand beyond their traditional functions to enhance the passenger experience by addressing dissatisfaction.
Future-shaping applications
Using the London Underground as an example, most grievances about the service cited long waits, ticketing issues, anti-social behaviour and failure to act against fare dodgers. Furthermore, technical issues with trains and their subsequent cancellations led to alternative bus routes feeling overcrowded and unsafe.
Many of the world’s leading public transport networks face similar issues, with service complaints continuing to decline. Administrators are looking to technologies that can help address the issues, improve service and prepare for future growth.
Where many critical industries are turning to applications that facilitate data-driven decisions to approach challenges, public transport can do the same. Access control software can directly address some of the core issues faced in public transport hubs, providing the insights needed to enhance operational efficiency and facilitate a more pleasant passenger journey.
Advanced platforms can strengthen existing access control systems by integrating with hardware and providing activity maps that more clearly identify bottlenecks. Applications of software include understanding peak travel hours and scheduling staff accordingly, optimising station queue setups to reduce ticket waiting times and overseeing incident reports to facilitate faster, more decisive action.
The flexible functionality of modern access control software can be a core strategic driver of public transport improvement. Administrators can leverage capabilities to address the unique challenges faced across various hubs within a network.
Innovating public transport hubs
Many global public transport networks continue to step up their commitment to improvement, citing how innovative technology applications can help reduce bottlenecks and overcome transit challenges that can burden a city’s prosperity. Transport for London (TfL) has outlined a draft proposal aiming to improve service reliability and safety, and is simultaneously advancing its sustainability ambitions – having signed a 15-year power purchase agreement to power the Tube network through a new solar farm initiative, underscoring its broader vision for a greener, future-ready network. The California Transportation Commission (CTC) has also set aside over USD 1 billion to improve public infrastructure.
Recent successes in the digital transformation of public transport in Turkish regions have proven that software has a leading role in the industry’s future. They can help overturn this dissatisfaction trend into a vital asset that powers a region’s growth.
Where deep data insights have proven imperative to continuous improvement for critical infrastructure, public transport can also benefit. The insights, scalability and adaptiveness of advanced access control software can be integral to future-proofing public transport hubs.
