CASE
STUDY
Advertorial
CDTA Upgrades, Simplifies Fare Payment
with Genfare and ‘Navigator’
By Brian Sullivan, Lost Art Communications LLC
T
he Capital District Transportation Authority
in Albany, N.Y. has never shied away from a
technical challenge. When it came time to
upgrade the fare payment programs, CDTA
jumped in with both feet by selecting a firstof
its-kind, fully customized, web-hosted
Genfare solution that would make the passenger
experience as convenient as possible with
new software specific to CDTA, smart card
and mobile payment capabilities, completely
customized point-of-sale (POS) devices, and a
“pay-as-you-go” approach that makes the new
fare payment system one of the easiest to use.
MAKING FARE PAYMENT EASY
CDTA’s Navigator system uses a durable plastic
fare card onto which riders can pre-load bus
fare, tap card over the farebox and the fare
is automatically deducted. At $1.30 per ride,
Navigator users on the “Pay-As-You-Go” plan
save $.20 per ride and are only charged for a
maximum of three rides per day. Or, they can
choose to pay $65 a month for unlimited rides
under the Frequent Rider plan — the same as
CDTA’s 31-Day Rolling Swiper card.
“We worked so closely with Genfare to
ensure we had developed and implemented a
fare payment system that was so easy to use,
our passengers would not even have to think
about it when they board our vehicles,” said
CDTA Director of Information Technology
Thomas G. Guggisberg. “With our Navigator
program, we have achieved exactly that, and
our passengers have truly embraced it.”
“CDTA was the perfect partner for this
project,” said Genfare President Darren Dickson.
According to Dickson, both organizations
shared similar core philosophies throughout
the project, including riders pay their fares the
way they wanted to, which meant they could
not eliminate any payment method the passengers
are using. “We took an ‘incremental
victory’ approach to how we developed and
rolled out the new system. When we needed
to take new information to the public, or offer
education on a completely new technology, we
would be sure to time it so that the passengers
were always pleasantly surprised, leading to
a quick adoption rate for the new features.”
NAVIGATING TO THE NEW SYSTEM
The team took a thorough approach to reaching
out and educating riders on the benefits of Navigator.
“We conducted aggressive pilot testing, we
worked with the local libraries because we share
a similar customer base, we advertised and produced
YouTube videos, we leveraged our social
media networks, and we worked with the local
news media to be sure we pursued every possible
avenue to ensure everyone was comfortable with
the new system,” said Guggisberg.
The Navigator system is as robust and convenient
behind the scenes as at the farebox.
Genfare and CDTA worked together to develop
a customized, user-friendly web-based
passenger interface.
“We will have up to 50 POS systems in our
service area, at an extensive array of locations:
supermarkets, libraries, box office locations —
wherever our customer base desires them,” said
Guggisberg. “We needed a small footprint, a
versatile technology approach, and most importantly,
a system that is easy to use.”
“With CDTA, we effectively redefined how we
function with regard to POS systems,” said Dickson.
“The Navigator POS devices are self-reliant
and easy for even ‘non-transit’ customer service
agents to use, because like any transit agency,
CDTA wants to make it as easy as possible for
new customers to become regular passengers.”
“We took POS systems to the next level for
CDTA,” said Genfare Director of Engineering
Vijay Balan. “With CDTA we developed a roadmap
that includes an ‘agnostic’ approach where
the system does not require a specific tablet or
receipt printer, making it as versatile and easy
to use as possible.”
PAY-OFF: HAPPY PASSENGERS
The adoption of the new system by passengers
since its official launch in January 2017, has been
amazingly successful. “The launch has been so
successful that we are already moving forward
with Genfare on a number of enhancements,”
said Guggisberg, “including testing of certain
discount and promotional codes, rolling out a
smart card for our paratransit customers, and
piloting disposable smart cards for riders who
use CDTA for shorter periods of time.”
Thomas
Guggisberg
Director of
Information
Technology
CDTA
With over 22 years’ experience,
Guggisberg has responsibility
over all aspects of Information
Technology services and
technology initiatives, including
Intelligent Transportation Systems
and major IT capital projects, such
as the Navigator smart card and
mobile ticketing system. Currently,
he serves as the Program
Manager for the deployment of
a new Intelligent Transportation
Management System.
Anya Rozanova
ERP
Administrator
CDTA
Rozanova is the ERP Administrator
and Program Manager for the
Navigator smart card and mobile
ticketing system at CDTA. For
the past 5 years, she has served
as a project manager on new
technology initiatives, including
upgrades to existing applications
and the development and
integration of new technologies
with CDTA enterprise systems,
such as the Navigator fare
collection system and other
intelligent transportation
management systems.
Michael Bruno
Manager
of Revenue
Operations
CDTA
Bruno has over 30 years’
experience working in a number
of financial management roles
and management capacities. As
Manager of Revenue Operations,
he is responsible for all aspects of
revenue collection, including the
successful operations and support
of the Navigator smart card and
mobile ticketing system.
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