Evaluation framework for mobile ticketing applications in public transit: a case study

Abstract

Both in the US and abroad, various transit agencies have started to implement mobile ticketing applications, which save commuters time during ticket purchase and allows them to avoid surcharges typically incurred when purchasing tickets on-board. Mobile ticketing applications also have a high potential to help transit agencies reduce costs, give them a better understanding of commuter behaviour, and allow them to make their services more efficient. However, it is not a straightforward task to predict the customers’ reaction and gain their trust and to increase the adoption rate of this relatively new technology. A comprehensive evaluation plan is required to detect and fix critical usability problems during both the application development and system wide implementation phases. To address this need, a four-stage evaluation framework is proposed in this study for mobile ticketing technologies in public transit to improve their usability and enhance their adoptability by the potential users. The proposed evaluation framework was employed when New Jersey transit's mobile ticketing application, MyTix, introduced in 2013, was being developed.