EasyRide: very well received by new and casual customers
A year ago, SBB integrated the EasyRide auto-ticketing system into their Mobile SBB app. Despite the coronavirus crisis, EasyRide has experienced strong growth and is very well received by customers.
Since its introduction, more than one million registrations and about 4.5 million trips have been registered. So far, EasyRide has been used mainly in local traffic. The SBB expects the e-ticket channel to continue to grow in the coming years.
After a meteoric start in November last year – after about three months, more than 500,000 customers had already registered – the first wave of coronavirus slowed the growth of EasyRide as well as all other distribution channels. In the months that followed, SBB automatic ticketing grew strongly, recording monthly growth rates of about 15%. Despite the coronavirus pandemic, approximately 4.5 million trips have been made via EasyRide since its introduction and more than one million customers have signed up via the Mobile SBB app. In September, EasyRide recorded an increase of 20,000 new customers, about 40% of whom bought a digital ticket for the first time.
Based on this positive balance sheet in a difficult context, the SBB believes that EasyRide is already well positioned as an additional sales channel and will continue to establish itself in the longer term. This simplification of access to public transport through a practical solution is especially welcomed by casual and new customers. So far, EasyRide has been used mainly in local traffic. For about 80% of the journeys, customers stayed connected for up to 30 minutes.
Register and travel by public transport at the fairest price
With easyRide, customers can check in at the beginning of their trip and log out wherever they want, at the end of their trip. The EasyRide feature recognizes the route taken and automatically counts the correct ticket, at the best price. If, for example, the value of the route taken exceeds the price of a daily card on a given day, it is the most advantageous fare, that of the daily card, which is charged after the fact to the customer.EasyRide was developed in collaboration with technology partner FAIRTIQ and integrated as a solution to the Mobile SBB app.
EasyRide is aimed at customers who do not have a general subscription, but want to use public transport in a convenient way without having to worry about zone limits or fare regulations. To use EasyRide, travellers must have a SwissPass ID and register a payment method in the Mobile SBB app to allow for the billing of travel.
SBB wants to continue to develop EasyRide. Among other things, pricing still needs to become more transparent. In order to further improve the quality of electronic ticketing and to develop price calculations, the public transport sector has decided to centralise the latter.
Data processing: the trust of our customers is a priority.
When it comes to data usage, customer confidence is a top priority for SBB.They guarantee data security and use it only to provide added value to customers.
EasyRide data is collected and processed exclusively for EasyRide and the purchase of electronic tickets. Travel data is kept for 12 months after the end of the trip for customer service services for abuse purposes. They are then made anonymous, so as to prevent any identification of the client. In addition, no data is valued. In particular, no mobility profile is established on this basis. Customers accept location data disclosure before using EasyRide for the first time.
Additional information about EasyRide: www.cff.ch/easyride/
