Transport Ticketing Events’ Post

I had the privilege of attending the first annual Transport Ticketing North America conference in Chicago on June 17-18 hosted by Transport Ticketing Events. This event was an incredible opportunity to delve into themes of access and equity, modern fare payments, and the needs of underbanked and unbanked travelers. The discussions on the benefits of open architecture and open payments were particularly insightful. As an attendee, I was deeply impressed by several sessions. Daniela Carnevale Aubry, MBA, Deputy Chief Payments Officer at Metrolinx Payments, gave a comprehensive overview of the various payment methods PRESTO offers. Her emphasis on the "Customer First, Customer Now" mantra highlighted how offering diverse payment options leads to over 2.4 million transactions daily. Steve Brar, Chief Technology Officer at Metrolinx Payments, shared how PRESTO's open architecture provides flexibility and choice with vendors. Tom Prestia, Transport Systems Strategist at Translink, presented on RideLink and Translink's Mobility as a Service (MaaS) pilots, showcasing how different agencies are leveraging MaaS to either boost transit usage or manage the demands of a growing population. Key takeaways included the observation that underbanked and unbanked individuals who use transit bank cards for transit are more likely to continue using that payment method for non-transit purchases. Additionally, the cultural, political, and social differences between Canada and the USA were highlighted as significant factors in transit payment systems. I was also fortunate to connect with industry leaders like Angela Gibson, Crissy Ditmore and Houda Slaoui. It was an honor to be in your company, and I hope we can meet more often! Leaving the conference, I felt an immense sense of pride in the work we do at PRESTO. Hearing peers express their respect and admiration for our efforts and knowing they follow our work closely was incredibly rewarding. It reinforced the significance of our contributions to the transit industry. I came back to work with a renewed sense of purpose :). I highly recommend this conference to anyone in the transit ticketing space. It's a niche event perfectly tailored to our field, with exhibitors and vendors showcasing the latest and greatest technology trends. The next conference will be held in Chicago on June 24-25, and you can pre-register. Looking forward to the next one! #TransportTicketingNA #TransitPayments #MobilityAsAService #Networking #Innovation