Over the last few years, there has been an increased focus on the deployment of automated fare collection (AFC) systems in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. Majority of the transit agencies/authorities in the region use contactless smartcards and paper/magnetic-stripe tickets for fare collection. There is now increasing discussion on the benefits of using bank cards and mobile ticketing for transit payments, and a few cities have deployed and unveiled plans to deploy open payment systems.

The deployment of smart ticketing systems is driven by an awareness of the benefits of such systems – improved services, reduced cash handling costs and fare evasion, higher fare revenue collection, greater operational efficiency, increased ridership, and lower costs. There is also greater emphasis on integration and interoperability.

Going forward, MENA is expected to be one of the largest upcoming markets for the deployment of AFC systems. Nearly 80 upcoming urban rail projects offer an AFC opportunity worth over USD5 billion by 2030. The growth in mobile subscriber bases, use of smartphones and penetration of bank cards will also make it one of the biggest markets for the use of contactless payment technology in ticketing.

The deployment of contactless payment technology brings up several topics for discussion. For a transit agency, the key discussion areas relate to managing the transition to an advanced fare collection system, stakeholder management, project delivery, financing models, choice of technology, etc.

Other key areas of discussion include potential business models for the financial industry, integration of mobile payments and wallets with the existing infrastructure, digitalisation in public transport, potential of big data, effective collection and analysis of data, challenges around data privacy, mobility-as-a-service (MaaS) and the impact of internet of things.

To better understand the trends, developments, opportunities, innovations and challenges associated with the deployment of contactless transit ticketing technology in the MENA region,Global Mass Transit is organising its conference on “Transit Ticketing & Fare Collection MENA 2019” on December 11-12, 2019 at Address Boulevard Hotel, Dubai, UAE.

Mission

The mission of this conference is to analyse key trends, discuss recent developments, highlight opportunities, discuss best practices, and showcase innovations and new technologies in the contactless ticketing and fare collection systems industry in the MENA region.