New ticketing flexibility for hybrid work patterns

Even with some high-profile company decisions to require employees to return to the office, including Apple and Microsoft, it looks like for many that hybrid working is here to stay.

For employees, hybrid working allows for a better work-life balance and can reduce commuting time. It also gives employees the opportunity to work in a location that is more suited to their needs, whether that be in a quiet home office or a co-working space.

For businesses, hybrid working can lead to increased productivity and job satisfaction among employees. It can also reduce overhead costs, such as office rent and utilities, as well as increase talent retention by offering employees the option to work remotely.

With this accelerated change in working patterns, come changes in the way we use transport to access work. For many commuting has reduced, resulting in public transport being used less for this type of journey – and with less predictability. Suddenly, 9-5 Monday to Friday isn’t the norm anymore. For some commuters, their changing commuting habits mean that more traditional period passes no longer represent good value.

As such, we’ve been working to enhance our ticketing capabilities to support bus operators in offering ticket products for hybrid working travel patterns – to enable flexible use for the customer, whilst balancing the commercial needs of the operating companies. To give these commuters better value, operators need commitment to more frequent travel in return.

In doing so we’re creating a distinction between a casual bus user and someone who commutes 3 days a week, for example. Long-expiry tickets give value to all travellers regardless of travel frequency. Introducing shorter expiry tickets removes the potential revenue risk of giving discounted travel to everyone regardless of their commitment to using the service.

When creating ticket products in Passenger Cloud, operators are now able to require that tickets must be activated within a period after purchase. For example, a carnet product where 3 day tickets are to be used within 7 days from purchase. With 3 individual days of travel permitted anytime within a 7 day period, operators can more effectively tailor their pricing to these emerging travel patterns and grow their market share of travellers adapting to them.

It goes without saying that the shift towards hybrid working has been a significant change for many. While it presents some challenges, it also offers numerous benefits for both employees and businesses. As more companies adopt this model, it is likely that we will see further changes in the way we work and travel in the future – and Passenger will continue to support the evolution.