FAIRTIQ User Days 2020

At FAIRTIQ, we have made it our mission to restore passenger trust in public transport as a safe, reliable and convenient way to get from A to B. 

The FAIRTIQ Users Day 2020 was an opportunity for the FAIRTIQ team and numerous experts from the world of mobility to come together and brainstorm ideas for restoring passenger trust in public transport and leverage new opportunities that are opening up for transport providers and fare associations. 

The common thread running through all of the presentations, workshops and other activities at this year's event was 'Public transport and the COVID-19 crisis – Restoring and consolidating passenger trust'.

More than 100 guests from five countries attended the two-day online event. As well as a chance to network, they were able to take part in workshops, as well as listen to a candid and productive panel discussion and thought-provoking keynote speeches. 

A highlight of FAIRTIQ User Days was the cheese tasting session at the end of the first day. A total of 20 kilos of cheese was sent to all attendees. 

To round off the first day's events, FAIRTIQ organised a special evening entitled 'Same tastes, different places'. Master cheesemaker Esther Infanger from the Engelberg artisan cheese dairy took guests on an interactive culinary tour of Switzerland,  involving a fine selection of delicious local cheeses. This was the first time Esther had led a "phy-gital" tasting session – not that anyone could tell from her extremely professional and fascinating presentation!

"You have done a fantastic job organising the virtual User Days. The evening event 'Same tastes, different places' was absolutely perfect.”
-Feedback from Mr. Reher from the Rhein-Main-Verkehrsverbund

Brief and to the point

The FAIRTIQ User Days began with a few words of welcome from FAIRTIQ founder and CEO Gian-Mattia Schucan. 

Gian-Mattia looked back on the events and experiences that have shaped FAIRTIQ's year, including a host of successful launches and the fruitful team #Hackathon week in autumn 2020, which was held online for the first time. 

The extraordinary last 12 months also saw FAIRTIQ welcome a raft of new public transport partners to its growing family. It also forged ahead with its exploration of potential market openings in several new regions. FAIRTIQ now has business development specialists in Scandinavia, the UK, Singapore, Bangalore and Toronto. 

"What choice does a business have but to see it as an opportunity." Gian-Mattia on the COVID-19 crisis.  

The second event on the programme  was a panel discussion with Ingo Kucz (White Octopus), Patrick Nussbaumer (EUROBUS), Kerstin Stark (DLR) and Gian-Mattia Schucan on: 'Public transport and the new normal – the short-term impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and long-term trends'. It was a thoughtful, lively and frank discussion, with each member of the panel sharing their own take on the subject. For example, Ingo Kucz noted: 

"In our everyday life, when we visit someone else's house, we show respect by taking our shoes off at the door. Let's apply this to cities: if you think about it, it is pretty rude that loads of people drive there  and on top of that expect the city to have a parking space for them once they arrive." 

The second day of the FAIRTIQ User Days began with keynote speaker Cornelia Muhl-Hünicke from the Magdeburger Verkehrsbetriebe. Her presentation was followed by a Q & A session with Marcus Degwert from the Erfurter Verkehrsbetriebe AG on the transport company's project with the regional transport association, the Verkehrsbund Mittelthüringen. 

The programme closed with the premiere of the rough cut of a video testimonial featuring EVAG Managing Director, Myriam Berg. 

FAIRTIQ User Days 2020 also ran four workshops: 

1.Workshop: Sascha Triemer, Head of Fares and Sales at the Verkehrsbetrieben Rhein-Sieg, and Elias Blum, Product Owner Data & Insights from FAIRTIQ. 

• Even once things return to normal, people will want to use public transport less

• FAIRTIQ use hit hard in early days of the pandemic

• but had recovered well by summer

• Digital sales channels are gaining ground in some regions, FAIRTIQ market share up 50% on pre-pandemic levels

2. Workshop: 'Mobility management and B2B at FAIRTIQ' with Daniel Oehry, HR Project and Mobility Manager at HILTI AG and Bruno Rohner, Business Development Manager at FAIRTIQ. 

• Job tickets are important revenue drivers

• There is a discernible demand among companies

• for more flexible travel solutions

• FAIRTIQ solution can attract new customer groups discentivised by existing fare models

3. Workshop: 'Marketing, Incentivisation, Acquisition and Retention' with Jonas Lutz,  Head of Product & Marketing at FAIRTIQ. 

• Iterative testing, measurability and enhanced effectiveness of marketing solutionsbased on specialist expertise and theright infrastructure/tools

• Attracting new customers by pooling partner resources(harness synergies) and transregional prominence and recognition

4. Workshop: 'Leveraging Data – The power of partnering with FAIRTIQ', with Elias Blum from FAIRTIQ

• FAIRTIQ also functions as a cost-effective, precise data gathering tool

• FAIRTIQ makes it easy to test and introduce new fare models

• FAIRTIQ helps public transport partners explore issues related how their services are used,user behaviour andthe impact of pricing changes

On Friday afternoon, Gian-Mattia Schucan officially brought the two-day event to an end with his closing remarks and outlook for the future. 

Software programmes used at FAIRTIQ User Days 2020: 

Wonder.me (creative networking breaks)

Talque.com (visual event planner)

MIRO (online whiteboard)

Zoom (videoconferencing software)

Thank you to everyone who attended FAIRTIQ User Days 2020. Hope to see you again next year!