The implementation of electronic tickets in public transport remains a pressing issue in Ukraine. From inadequate quality of passenger services to the lack of transparency in cash flows within transportation. Let's learn more about the "E-Ticket," its advantages, challenges, and the overall necessity of a unified central component of this modern e-service in every locality.

In Ukraine, one of the unique software complexes for the e-ticket was developed and implemented by the IT company Ukrainian Geoinformation Systems LLC, while the ASOOP operator is LLC "GIS-SERVICE." So far, ASOOP has been implemented in three united territorial communities in the Stryi district, with the list constantly expanding, but the experience of the operator LLC "GIS-SERVICE" will be useful for other regions, especially in Lviv Oblast.

Problems and shortcomings of urban transport in Ukraine

As of 2022, the urban passenger transport system in Ukraine operates very poorly based on the principle of "3 NOs" – ineffective, non-transparent, and poor quality. Why? There are many shortcomings that must be addressed to achieve an optimal, quality, and comfortable public transport system in all united territorial communities (UTCs) in Ukraine, namely:

– lack of transparency in cash flows in transport services;

– practically no information about the number of transported passengers;

– lack of statistical data on transportation of privileged citizen categories;

– inaccurate information about the actual state of the transport network (profitable or unprofitable routes, insufficient number of vehicles on routes, etc.);

– no monitoring of real data on necessary subsidies for transport infrastructure;

– no KPIs in transport network operation, nor the possibility to obtain them.

All these factors lead to deterioration of vehicle technical conditions, illegal cash flows, and inefficient financial and economic activities in transport enterprises. However, the most problematic factor remains the lack of quality monitoring, analysis, and control over public transport both nationwide and in local UTCs.

Will the Unified Central Component of the "E-Ticket" help solve all urgent transport issues?

Indeed. The optimal solution to urgent issues is the globally recognized automated fare payment accounting system (ASOOP) at the local level and the Unified Central Component (a single database or monitoring system) at the national level.

While ASOOP is already known and legislatively established, the Unified Central Component "SOCIUM" is a single database for effective management of all ASOOP subsystems.

What is this system?

In Ukraine, the Unified Central Component of the "E-Ticket" — "SOCIUM" — provides:

1) Receiving data from ASOOP Ukraine from all UTCs where ASOOP is implemented or will be implemented.

2) An analytical center for preparing reports and generating statistical data on the country’s transport infrastructure activities.

3) Monitoring the current state of the transport network nationwide.

4) Reporting and modeling for ASOOP.

Capabilities and advantages of the Unified Central Component:

1) Monitoring cash flows for public transportation in Ukraine (transactions by regions – city, UTC, oblast, transport companies, carriers; payment statistics – services, subscriptions, tickets, discounts for privileged passengers; subsidies – for pupils, students, pensioners, persons with disabilities, etc.).

2) Dispatching (number of completed/uncompleted trips (downtime) by regions, routes, and stops).

3) Travel modeling methodology (fleet renewal, ticket price changes, passenger flow considerations).

4) Analytics (checking profitability and losses, the need for new routes, cost-effectiveness of purchasing new vehicles, cash flows, acquiring cashless payments).

5) Quality of transport services (KPI) – cleanliness, quality, and convenience of public transport, etc.

6) Social component (tourist routes, social advertising, support for privileged categories).

7) Legal component (implementation of electronic document management, forecasting spare parts purchases, optimizing spare equipment pools, etc.).

8) Distribution network (identifying real passenger flows on routes by regions, retail oriented toward mass consumers).

How does the Unified Central Component of the "E-Ticket" work?

The Unified Central Component consists of multi-portals and mobile applications with elements for each administration and carrier, divided into: a central component – the administrative control part with role-based data access, and a public – an open, centralized nationwide transport portal and mobile apps for all platforms. There are also portals for individual administrations – transport service customers – with administrative and public parts.

Additionally, the system allows embedding open pages into existing administration websites to collect data on transport service quality (presence of vehicles on routes, daily and hourly schedule performance).

The Unified Central Component also performs the following tasks:

1) Concentrating ASOOP-related data (passenger flow, payment statistics by types). Possibility to publish certain reports for the public.

2) A centralized public transport hotline system with the ability to control and resolve issues by both administrations and each carrier.

3) A place for transport news exchange where administrations and carriers can share news in their sub-portals, all grouped and displayed on the central portal and apps.

4) Centralized online display of public transport movement and active schedules.

5) Collecting data on privileged citizen categories with automatic connection to databases. Accordingly, to comply with personal data protection laws, all ASOOPs will receive necessary data on privileged passengers in real-time.

Thus, the unified central component of the electronic ticket allows creating routes using multiple, including different administrations, and provides the ability to purchase multi-tickets. Simultaneously, it helps track cash flows, vehicle presence on routes, passenger counts including privileged categories, etc. This unified system can optimize all ASOOP systems separately or collectively, and even detect operational errors while enabling planning and modeling.

The ASOOP operator – LLC "GIS-SERVICE" – supports the government’s strategy to implement e-services in Ukraine and recommends that all transport companies and administrations join the unified Ukrainian electronic ticket.