On board travel payment systems

On board travel payment systems can vary and it is important that passengers quickly identify the ways payment is made on the vehicle.  It enables them to prepare for payment, and to understand the ways in which different types of fare products are processed, and the ways their transactions are recorded. On-board information concerning the fare payment process should be clear, prominent and easy to understand.

If tickets are issued, or fare validations are recorded, then verification of payment can be established. This reduces disputes between passengers and the operator staff. Passenger familiarity with the processes helps the operator to speed boarding, incrementally improve trip times, and thus vehicle productivity. Any driver involvement in the payment system, other than for cursory checks, inevitably increases the vehicle dwell-time at the stop.

The following practices have been identified:

• Ticketless, crew cash collection
• Ticketless, fare-box cash collection
• Pre-printed tickets
• Tickets printed at point of issue
• Stored-value products