Research Analysis Design Development

Case Study: Ticketless Travel Application

By RADD Solutions Limited

Overview

RADD Solutions Limited developed the Ticketless Travel Application for a major Train Operator in the UK. This innovative SaaS (Software as a Service) application is designed to address the persistent issue of fare evasion across the railway network. By integrating directly with Network Rail’s Open Data for daily train schedules, the application manages and records targeted surveys on train services to quantify ticketless travel and enforcement.

Problem Statement

Prior to the implementation of the Ticketless Travel Application, the train operator faced 10% revenue losses due to fare evasion. On a national scale, London Northwest Railway reported that ticketless travel and fare evasion cost taxpayers around £240 million annually (London Northwestern Railway).

The lack of precise data on why and where passengers travelled without tickets made it difficult to allocate revenue protection resources efficiently and prevent revenue leakage. Traditional methods for tracking fare evasion were cumbersome and inconsistent, leading to a reactive rather than proactive approach in handling fare dodgers.

According to Lichfield Live, in 2023, one train operating company investigated 108,681 reports of attempted fare evasion and issued 53,344 Penalty Fare Notices.

Solution Implementation

RADD Solutions provided a solution to streamline the surveying process in the form of the Ticketless Travel Application. This progressive web-based application is deployed to user’s mobile devices and coordinates the collection of data through surveys distributed across definable train routes.

  • Integration with Network Rail Open Data: The solution aligns train movements to survey routes. By accessing real-time train schedules, the application aligns survey operations with train movements. This allows selection of known national records, reducing necessary user input, and ensuring accurate and consistent data.

  • Weighted Survey Distribution: Surveys gathering information on passenger travel behaviours and fare compliance are distributed to selected routes according to weightings administered by the client in the application.

  • Immediate communication: The application will notify users that a survey quota has been reached on a particular route, and therefore no further records are required until the next survey period. This allows resource to immediately be reallocated and prevents duplication or superfluous work.

  • Data Analytics: The application collates the collected data to help identify patterns in ticketless travel. This helps in planning and deploying revenue protection resources more effectively.

Challenges Overcome

Implementing the Ticketless Travel Application was not without its challenges. The primary issues faced included:

  • Data Analytics: RADD Solutions implemented several iterative improvements to enhance data presentation to meet requirements that changed as the solutions capabilities were fully understood.
  • User Adoption: With the backing of the client, transition of the business workflow to the application was straightforward. However, several attempts were needed as configuration of the routes and weightings were finalized by the client.
  • Mapping Routes to Schedules: Client defined survey routes typically cover a smaller part of a nationally defined service, and several survey routes may be covered by a single service. A solution was devised where the series of station stops would be checked if more than one mapping was otherwise possible, though the matches may not be exact there will be enough points of similarity to identify the correct mapping.

Business Benefits

The Ticketless Travel application has improved data about fare evasion and improved management of revenue protection resource. This has been integral in reducing ticketless travel on our client’s network from 10% in 2019 to just under 5% by 2023 (Northern News) falling further to 3% in 2024 (Northern News). The data provided through the platform has formed the basis of the operator's Revenue Protection strategy and has fundamentally changed their approach to officer deployment, leading to exceeding targets across multiple KPIs.

Operational efficiency has been improved through digitisation of the survey process where verifiable data recording has minimised data entry errors and reduced labour costs. Duplication of effort has been prevented by immediate communication of survey quota fulfilment. Further, data analysis has allowed better planning and deployment of revenue protection resources, optimizing spending and operational efforts.

Partnership Excellence

RADD Solutions has demonstrated exceptional service delivery and support. The team's responsive communication and clear project timelines have consistently met or exceeded expectations. Our commitment to smooth system transitions, including out-of-hours support for system builds, has ensured zero impact on operational productivity.

I only have positive things to say about the team at RADD who have worked with us over the past few years not only developing the app but continuing to refine and improve its functionality. Communication has always been extremely prompt with clear timescales established that have only ever been met or even completed earlier than expected. The team works around the clock and has put in hours outside of the working day to ensure the smooth transition of builds for the app which has ensured productivity of our teams was never impacted. Absolute top of the line service would highly recommend RADD to anyone who has the opportunity.

Tom Watson, Business Insight Analyst at Northern

Future Developments

The train operating company continues to collaborate with RADD to refine the application, ensuring it remains effective against evolving fare evasion tactics. There have been discussions with interested parties which would involve the use of automated on-train passenger counting technology and expansion of the solution to support car parking tickets.

Conclusion

The Ticketless Travel Application by RADD Solutions Limited has proven to be a crucial tool in combating ticketless travel and enhancing revenue protection for the train operating company. By leveraging technology to gather and analyse data, the solution has brought about significant improvements in operational efficiency and financial performance. The solution has been championed by the client through awards and collaboration workshops between train operators.

Application Screenshots

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