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How L.A. Metro Hopes to Ease Payment, Selection and Mobility

The Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority, which had more than 1.2 million weekday riders last month, is capitalizing on a new solution that made paying for transportation easier. A new app is also on the way.

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The Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (L.A. Metro), the nation’s third-largest transit agency, is seeing the benefits of a payment system enhancement that debuted in late 2018, and will deploy more consumer-facing technology later this year.

L.A. Metro built on a partnership with Salesforce to introduce TAPForce on Sept. 29, a new Salesforce engagement layer. The solution, built by Publicis.Sapient, activated a cloud-based electronic wallet function for its Transit Access Pass card (the TAP in TAPForce). The agency envisions the TAP wallet as a common way for customers to load and store funds via credit cards, debit cards or cash; then purchase transportation from a variety of “cloud-based and account-based entities,” Robin O’Hara, executive officer and head of customer experience for the TAP program, told Techwire. The agency made the technology available first to bike-share customers, and other engagements are on the way.

• Response has been good. L.A. Metro had more than 1,000 new signups from Metro Bikeshare on day one after the new system went live, O’Hara said during a webinar with Salesforce on April 10. The agency’s website traffic has doubled; online applications to its reduced-fare programs have gone up 20 percent; and around 20 companies have reached out to integrate their modes of transportation with TAP. L.A. Metro plans to integrate the solution with scooter companies and other bike-share programs from municipal partners; to onboard express lane payments; and connect it to parking spot payments at garages the agency owns.

“This has given us the kind of platform we need to drive sustainability across the county, and provide an experience that draws people off the roads and into public transit, helping L.A. be more green,” O’Hara said during the webinar. The agency has registered 500,000 TAPForce customers, she said in an interview.

“The lightning platform simplified app dev[elopment] by abstracting a lot of code and complexity. By integrating the platform, the use of ready-made APIs, L.A. Metro was able to extend the payment options,” Bryon Grant, marketing cloud principal solution engineer at Salesforce, said during the webinar.

• Another transit option is in the early stages. In a pilot partially funded by a Federal Transit Administration grant, private-sector provider Via is offering a first- and last-mile van service for L.A. Metro users. It’s a “light integration” with only about five transit stations, and with TAPForce, which can help users “check in” on whether they’re eligible for the Low-Income Fare is Easy (LIFE) program. Payment via TAPForce isn’t yet an option here.

• A second transit option is coming. MicroTransit, which the agency said “would allow its customers to hail on-demand rides through an app or call center for short trips,” is in development; L.A. Metro released an RFP for the initiative in November. It sought community input in January and is reviewing three responses. A launch is likely either later this year or in early 2020, O’Hara said.

• Watch for mobile. L.A. Metro will add a mobile TAP app aimed at further enabling seamless connections between customers and transit across 26 systems. Cubic Corp., which is building the app, announced the partnership with the agency in January. The app will probably have a soft launch later this year, O’Hara said.

Theo Douglas is Assistant Managing Editor of Industry Insider — California.