Simple to administer by agents

Clearly the fare system also needs to be understandable by the agents who apply it, and so enable them to do this accurately and to be able to explain the implications to passengers. In addition, though, the system should be simple to administer, both at the point of ticket sale and at the point of fare validation.

For any fare system employing pre-printed tickets this implies a limitation on the number of fare products and ticket variants that can be authorized, both for reasons of stock control and for practicality and speed when being sold on the vehicle – whether by the driver or a conductor. Restricting the range of ticket variants also makes it easier for inspectors to check their correct usage, particularly in respect of overriding.

Administration can be simplified, of course, through using electronic ticket issuing machines that can compute the applicable fare and / or machine-readable travel validation techniques.