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Mobile Ticketing Application Contract Extension
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DESCRIPTION: Authorization for Mobile application contract extensions |
AGENDA NO: Click or tap here to enter text. |
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ACTION REQUEST: ☒ Approval ☐ Review Comment ☐ Information Only ☐ Other |
RECOMMENDATION:
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Authorize the Chief Executive Officer to extend contracts for the RTA’s Mobile Application “Le Pass” software vendors: A two-year extension for Moovit at $250,000 per year and extended purchase authority from $300,000 to $800,000 for Token Transit. The total cost to maintain the mobile ticketing applications is not to exceed $1,000,000.
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ISSUE/BACKGROUND:
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RTA staff has been working toward the implementation of the Coordinated Fair Modernization Project dedicated to improving access and services with a focus on (1) increased fare sales by introducing mobile payment and e-ticketing, and (2) improving the rider experience by offering real-time information and wayfinding on smartphones. RTA’s riders have come to depend on mobile applications for both ticketing and real-time information. Approximately 20% of RTA’s annual fare revenue is derived through the mobile application ($1.6M in 2021).
To minimize the disruption to riders that results from introducing a new app, RTA staff initially recommended continuing to use the in-situ application until the future fare payment technology was deployed. In February 2022 while staff was working to identify future fare payment technology, Transdev notified staff of the sunset of the RTA mobile application, GoMobile by August. A typical mobile application process takes 12-18 months and staff had only six months. As a result, RTA staff identified and implemented an immediate replacement solution that met the needs of riders and ensured RTA was well positioned within the larger Coordinated Fare Modernization Initiative.
RTA staff sought a solution that could reasonably deliver mobile applications by the end of July 2022 to ensure that the agency met the transition date of August 28, 2022. Moovit was selected for its off-the-shelf “white-label” app that has been RTA branded as “Le Pass”. Token Transit was selected to be integrated into Le Pass (and several other 3rd party applications) to provide the mobile ticketing component. The app was successfully launched, and the one-year subscription officially started on July 30, 2022.
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DISCUSSION:
RTA staff seeks to renew contracts for the same to continue to meet and improve service delivery. As discussed in the previous section, a significant amount of effort has been put into standing up Le Pass, and changing vendors is a major undertaking. That the initial procurement and delivery were accomplished in such a compressed amount of time is a testament to the hard work of the staff in a state of urgency. All software system launches, including a transit agency mobile application, will require an adjustment period to work out issues and operate smoothly.
During the past year, staff has worked with the vendors, Moovit and Token Transit, to identify and address the following improvements:
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Feature |
Outcome |
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Ticketing “cart” |
Allows purchasing of multiple tickets/passes in one transaction |
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Integrate JP Transit real-time |
Real-time arrival information integrated into Le Pass |
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Integrate bike share “Blue Bikes” |
Live information on the location of available Blue Bikes and an added option in trip planning |
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Redemption links |
Allows RTA to offer bulk sales of tickets/passes in the mobile app; several organizations are now piloting its use |
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Improved real-time |
Increases visibility of arriving vehicles (discussed further below) |
Understanding the Real-Time Information Challenges:
By far, the biggest feature valued by riders is the live vehicle arrival or “real-time information” and its reliability in the app is also the biggest source of negative feedback.
Reliable real-time information is generated, not by the mobile application, but by a separate system called the CAD/AVL provided by Clever Devices. The mobile apps read this information and display it directly or with some modifications. The original version of Moovit limited information only to the vehicles that were actively moving toward a rider’s stop. As a result, vehicles in layover or not yet turned around did not display and caused a lot of rider anxiety.
In recent improvements, riders now see ETA information for the next several arriving vehicles in addition to the position of the next arriving one. The screenshot at right shows the app and shown below is an example of what information 4 buses on a route would display.
Going forward, staff and Moovit will work to add additional vehicle visibility to continue to reduce rider anxiety and confidence in arrival information.
Ensuring accurate ETA information is critical for other improvements such as display screens at major hubs. This requires staff to work closely with all its vendors, especially Clever and Moovit.
Customer Satisfaction
While there have been a number of negative customer complaints, overall satisfaction with the app is actually quite high. An industry standard measure of customer satisfaction of a service or product is called Net Promoter Score (NPS). It is considered much more representative than other customer feedback forums because it uses a simple, random survey of users. In Le Pass, the below screenshot shows the survey and results that ran for most of the previous 9 months.
When looking at customer complaints to Rideline (RTA’s customer service center), there have been 175 issues reported since the app’s launch. Almost 2/3rds of reported issues were related to ticketing, particularly around refunds, accidental ticket activations, or account issues. The second biggest category of issues are for real-time information. These account for 1/4th of the total and complaints over time are shown at right. There was a slight uptick in June that directly related to improvements that went into effect June 9th that revealed other unanticipated issues with the Clever feed. Those issues were resolved by Clever on June 28th and staff anticipates complaints to go back down to very low levels in July.
These results do not mean to suggest RTA staff is fully satisfied with Le Pass as is; however, it is important to understand overall rider satisfaction. This feedback allows staff continues to focus on improvements, feature enhancements, and understanding where more rider education may be needed.
App Performance
After the initial rapid growth period from August to October 2022, app usage dipped some during the winter but has grown to a steady level of about 25,000 - 30,000 active daily users. Approximately 40% of daily users are using the app for mobile ticketing purchases which currently requires a debit or credit card.
Looking closer at the mobile ticketing side, revenue has significantly exceeded projections with sales in 6 months from September 2022 to February 2023 28% higher than mobile ticketing sales in the previous app, GoMobile, during the same 6-month period in 2019-2020 when ridership was higher. Since that six-month period (Sep 2022 - Feb 2023), Le Pass had its three highest months of mobile sales back-to-back-to-back (March - May 2023), with an average of $362,000 total revenue per month. For the mobile ticketing vendor, Token Transit, the fee is based solely on a percentage of sales. As a result, additional funds need to be allocated to meet the updated demand forecast. The 2022 Token Transit purchase order for $300,000.00 reflected the original GoMobile projected funds, the actual increase in the use of mobile ticketing between August 2022 and April 2023 (8-month total) of $241,736.48 with a projected 12-month projection to be $362,604.72. The higher-than-expected use of the application coupled with the inclusion of JP Transit in the near future necessitates the rise in the requested funding and subsequent purchase order to $500,000.00 per year.
Future Improvements:
A number of additional improvements are already well underway and several other new features are included in a contract extension for Moovit:
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Feature |
Benefit |
Status |
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Cash app payment |
Allows un(der) banked users a means of payment in the app |
12-month pilot starting in Q3 2023 |
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Fare capping |
Allows riders to pay per ride until they reach the 7-day or 31-day pass value and then ride the rest of the days free. |
Requires amending fare policy. Early Q4 2023 |
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Integrate JP Transit mobile ticketing |
Riders have the benefit of using Le Pass for either agency mobile tickets. Regional ride passes are available through either agency. |
CEA approved by both parties Q3 2023 launch |
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Integrate Elerts |
Adds see-say reporting of safety/security issues directly within app |
Testing Q4 2023 launch |
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Integrate Disruption Manager |
Allows for much more improved, real-time details to riders through app on changes to trips: added, cancelled, detours etc. |
Testing in development Q3 2023 features start rollout |
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Real-time improvements |
Increase visibility of arriving vehicles |
Q4 2023 |
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Microtransit pilot |
Develop on-demand zones in areas of low-ridership for pickup and drop-off to select destinations at same pricing as fixed-route |
Details in development (vehicles, hardware, SOP) Q2 2024 estimate |
Given the level of investment already put into delivery, improvements, and marketing, staff seeks to extend the Moovit contract for two years at the existing rate of $250,000 per year. The extension also includes other continuous improvements and upgrades listed above and the staff will continue to do rider outreach and education to improve app experience. To maintain the continuity of mobile application service, RTA staff seeks to continue with Token Transit for an additional $500,000 for a total not to exceed $800,000.00.
FINANCIAL IMPACT:
The total cost to maintain the mobile ticketing applications is not to exceed $1,000,000:
§ Moovit: Moovit Inc. as a Software-As-A-Service Provider, for a two-year subscription in the amount of $500,000 from the approved 2023 operating budget from account 1290002.8580.163.
§ Token Transit: As the mobile ticketing software provider, for a fixed fee per fare payment transaction via the mobile application, paid monthly for a total one-year amount derived from the revenue generated by mobile ticket sales. Based on mobile ticketing sales from the previous nine (9) months, staff estimates total payments to be $500,000.00 per year, increasing the total purchasing authority for Token Transit to pay mobile ticket transaction fees from $300,000 to $800,000 from account 1290002.8580.15182.
NEXT STEPS:
Upon RTA Board Approval, staff will assign three (3) purchase orders.
ATTACHMENTS:
1. Resolution
2. Token Transit Agency Terms Final Draft
3. Moovit - New Orleans RTA Proposal Excerpt
4. 2023 Token Transit Board Renewal
Prepared By: Doris O’Sullivan, dosullivan@rtaforward.org
Title: Project Manager of Information Technology III
Reviewed By: Dwight Norton, dnorton@rtaforward.org
Title: Interim Chief of Infrastructure, Planning, and Information Technology
Reviewed By: Gizelle Johnson-Banks
Title: Chief Financial Officer
7/6/2023
Lona Edwards Hankins Date
Chief Executive Officer