Palm Tran Elevates Fare Payments with Genfare
2
With three facilities and approximately 7 million boardings annually across Florida ’ s expansive Palm Beach County , Palm Tran Public Transportation was looking for a way to elevate customer experience while advancing equitable mobility for its riders .
“ We are always searching for ways to grow our ridership ” said Clinton Forbes , Executive Director of Palm Tran . “ And we know that technology is a major part of that . Partnering with a company like Genfare , who are experts in this area has helped us find those new customers through technology .” Several years ago , Palm Tran began working with Genfare as a way to help increase functionality and provide their riders with an opportunity for open payments . Utilizing Genfare ’ s Fast Fare farebox , an all-in-one , customizable farebox that accepts , validates , and processes whatever form of payment is in the rider ’ s pocket , Palm Tran users are able to digitize their cash with multiple on and off the bus options , whether it ' s cash , coin , open payment , mobile or smart card . “ In terms of providing better payment options for our riders , I definitely wanted our riders to be able to approach our vehicle without having to think about how they pay the fair ,” Forbes said . “ Genfare helped design and deliver that technology for us .” According to Forbes , implementing the new system was a complex process but with Genfare ’ s hands on assistance , the agency was able to make a smooth transition . After receiving approval on their proposed RFP , Genfare assigned a program manager to Palm Tran ’ s project . A solution architects team then created a Scope of Work ( SOW ), which defined the technical deliverables and identified expectations for both parties . The SOW was then shared with the customer and once approved , the program manager began working directly with Palm Tran to kick off the project . “ Once all of that was completed , our program management team conducted demo and discovery sessions where we worked in one-totwo-day workshop sessions with the transit agency team members ,” said Vandana Sudini , Genfare senior program manager . “ Once they were comfortable and all the training and testing was completed , we then launched a pilot phase to make sure everything in production was working as expected .” Once the pilot was deemed successful , the product was then launched into production . After the go live , Sudini remained on site to ensure the rollout was a success .
BUSRIDE
“ I was there for 10 days , from the installation all the way to going live just to make sure they had enough support and that their campaign went amazing ,” Sudini said . “ They ran a very good promotion , which brought 5,000 rider registrations within the month . I had never seen that before .” After the launch , Genfare continued to provide follow-up training on a demand basis for Palm Tran employees . They were also provided with access to Genfare ’ s customer portal which offers a variety of videos and training materials for both operations staff as well as customers . “ It is important to work with a vendor that is really going to be there for you during this implementation and post implementation ,” Forbes said . “ That you can pick up the phone and make a call and they will have someone assist you through the entire process . I have to say that Genfare has been there for us , from the president to the technician , we have had support from Genfare .” busride . com