Equity in Payments for Transit and Congestion Charging

Project Description

The past decade’s proliferation of payment methods and technologies has given transportation providers new and various ways to collect payments for trips, whether they are by bus, train, managed lane, or by road paid for by toll or mile. While the expansion of options has enabled faster transactions and more efficient boardings and toll payments, the plethora of payment systems means that users must juggle multiple cards, apps, and transponders since few of these systems are interoperable. This “fund fumbling” creates friction for users, hampers transportation system efficiency, and forgoes the benefits of integrated payment systems that could not only make travel easier but also provide modal shift incentives. Yet, the worst consequence of the convoluted system is that many people are left behind: the millions of Americans who are unbanked or underbanked and/or who do not have access to smartphones or mobile internet are at risk of being literally left at the curb. 
The proposed research will develop a data-driven and stakeholder-reviewed framework for improving users’ equitable access to, and experience of, payment across all modes of transportation. This framework will incorporate proposed shared standards to make it easier for all users to pay for and use the transportation system, increase the efficiency of transactions, and enable cross-modal payments and incentives to encourage mode shift to increase transit ridership. Researchers will produce an inventory of global transit and transportation payment systems and standards to identify the full range of options and implementations while taking note of contextual advantages and limitations. As part of this effort, researchers will review these payment systems’ privacy standards and interoperability practices and policies. For transit systems, this will also mean evaluating fare policies and integration models. Early stage stakeholder engagement will inform our understanding of user needs, and later stakeholder engagement will enable us to incorporate feedback on the framework, to increase confidence in its applicability and equitability.