The Mobile-First Playbook: 5 strategic ticketing lessons for public transport authorities

Start with the customer experience, not the technology

When replacing a legacy ticketing system, it is tempting to begin by asking: Should we introduce a new smartcard? Contactless bank cards? Mobile Pay-As-You-Go? While these are important decisions, they should not come first.

The real objective is not to implement a particular channel or technology, but to create a ticketing system that delivers a better passenger experience while providing a more efficient and sustainable operating model for transport authorities. Travellers do not care whether they use a smartcard, a bank card or a smartphone. They care about travelling effortlessly, paying the correct fare automatically and moving through the network with as little friction as possible. Technology is simply the means of delivering that outcome.

The first question should therefore be:

What experience should every traveller be able to have?

Rather than focusing on today's ticketing technologies, start by designing the complete passenger journey - from planning and boarding to payment and after-sales support. Consider the needs of different traveller groups, their expectations and accessibility requirements before deciding which channels and technologies are best suited to serve them.

Questions to consider include:

• How should passengers access public transport?

• What should make travelling feel effortless?

• Which traveller groups have different accessibility or operational needs?

• What experience should remain consistent across every channel?

Sources of information can include past and focused surveys, focus groups, user panels, passenger associations and customer care records.

Denmark followed exactly this approach. Rather than starting with a predetermined technology, Rejsekort first defined the passenger experience it wanted to create. Only then did it determine which channels would best deliver that experience. Mobile-first was therefore not the starting point - it was the outcome.

Validate. Learn. Procure for outcomes.

Once the desired customer experience and the channel strategy has been defined, the challenge shifts from strategy to delivery.

The next question should therefore be:

How can we validate our channel strategy early and structure procurement to minimise risk while enabling long-term innovation?

Large-scale ticketing programmes often become lengthy and high risk because too many decisions are bundled into a single procurement process. Customer acceptance, technical feasibility, implementation risks and supplier selection are all addressed at once, making projects slower, more complex and harder to adapt as priorities evolve. A staged procurement approach offers an alternative.

1. Break the programme into phases

By breaking the programme into clearly defined phases, transport authorities can validate assumptions, gather real-world evidence and refine requirements before making long-term commitments. Just as importantly, staged procurement provides the opportunity to evaluate more than technical capability. It enables authorities to assess strategic alignment, innovation potential and whether a supplier can become a trusted long-term partner, not just a technology vendor.

2. Focus on the outcomes

Procurement should also focus on the outcomes to be achieved rather than prescribing exactly how they must be delivered. By defining the desired passenger experience and operational objectives instead of rigid technical specifications, transport authorities give suppliers the flexibility to propose proven, configurable solutions - such as SaaS platforms - that can be deployed quickly and evolve over time. Rather than reinventing proven products that already exist in the marketplace through bespoke development, authorities should leverage what already exists and only consider customisation where it creates genuine value.

3. Enable continuous improvements

Finally, procurement should not assume that today's solution will remain unchanged throughout its lifetime. Contracts should enable continuous improvement, allowing the ticketing system to evolve alongside passenger expectations, operational needs and emerging technologies. An inherent advantage of Software as a Service developed for several clients is that evolution is built in. Updating a bespoke solution becomes a project in itself.

Denmark's procurement illustrates this approach. Rejsekort first validated customer acceptance and technical feasibility through targeted pilots before launching a staged procurement process. By selecting a proven, configurable SaaS platform and the right strategic partner, rather than commissioning a bespoke solution, the nationwide Rejsekort app launched within six months of contract signature—on time and on budget.

Lead a transformation, not an IT project

Even with the right technology, channels and procurement strategy, success is not guaranteed. The final challenge is leading the transformation itself. 

The key question at this point is:

How can we bring our organisation, partners and passengers along on the transformation journey?

Replacing a ticketing system is about far more than introducing new technology. It changes how passengers travel, how frontline staff support customers, how fares are managed, how data is used and how different organisations collaborate. Success therefore depends as much on people, governance, communication and change management as it does on the technology itself.

For this reason, ticketing transformation should be led as a strategic business initiative rather than a standalone IT project. Ideally, programme leadership should have direct access to executive decision-makers, ensuring that customer experience, operational objectives and long-term strategy remain at the centre of key decisions. At the same time, transport authorities should establish a clear long-term vision and ensure that all stakeholders understand not only what is changing, but why. This means engaging operators, political stakeholders, customer service teams and passengers early, aligning around common objectives and communicating progress throughout the programme. Internally, governance structures should enable fast decision-making while maintaining alignment across the many organisations involved.

Equally important is recognising that transformation does not end at launch. A modern ticketing system should continuously evolve based on passenger behaviour, operational insights and new mobility opportunities. Organisations should therefore view implementation as the beginning of an ongoing improvement journey, rather than the end of a project.

Perhaps the greatest lesson from Denmark is that the transformation extended far beyond technology. Delivering a nationwide mobile-first ecosystem required strong governance, close collaboration between operators, authorities and technology partners, and a shared long-term vision. The technology enabled the transformation, but organisational alignment made it successful.