We are now living in a transformative period with internet and digital technology. But, ironically, there are some things that just don’t change. The payment and data record system of commuters in today’s public transportation are still very fragmented. There is no software system or application that connects commuters’ entire journey—from pre-transit planning to in-transit to post-transit experiences. Commuters pay fares separately at every transit. Payments on the various mobility platforms are paid individually with no common payment scheme to unite all services. And, there is no synchronised platform that provides end-to-end travel information.
Providing Integrated Platform
In response to these issues, TransitLink is building an integrated platform focused on enhancing user experience and improving the transportation of commuters. “What we are building is a consortium platform for different mobility and lifestyle applications to share in the user pool, data pool and content pool in a trustless and autonomous environment,” explains Keifer Lv, Co-founder and CEO of TransitLink. Under the leadership of the four experienced co-founders, the dynamic start-up is on a mission to connect the urban population through transit and link the lifestyle needs of the urbanites.
The TransitLink platform has a consumer-centric mobile app that enables multi-modal trip planning, seamless one-stop payment, and real-time route optimisation. With a master token, users can clear and settle all intermodal and cross-app transactions in a one-stop payment. Besides, the user controls the data privacy rights; and advertisements on the platform are permission-based.
Starting with the integration of public mass-transit service providers such as bus and metro operators, the company is also targeting to include the integration of private mobility service providers of ride-hailing, bike sharing, taxi and other mobility service providers. Transit operators can take advantage of the integration in the logistic, infrastructure and fare management. Also, by gaining insight into commuters’ behaviour, service providers can be more strategic in their planning as well as enhance their customer engagement.
Making Travel More Convenient
TransitLink provides the most advanced electronic payment platform to enable commuters to pay their travel fare by QR code on their mobile at any reader terminals deployed by TransitLink. This makes travel much more convenient as commuters don’t have to worry about spare change or whether there is enough balance in their transit card to pay for the journey. Keifer explains, “The mobile app is linked to their bank card and all fares are deducted from their bank account in real-time and cause no disruptions to their journey.”
The company has also started providing route information in Haikou city with plans to expand it to other cities. Keifer says, “We receive around 20 million calls a day to our servers for bus route and arrival information as part of the Traffic Big Data plan.” Keifer assures, “In the near future, we will provide real-time updates to the commuter’s travel journey and optimise the travel plan when an exception happens.”
When asked about the driving factors of the company, Keifer says, “We are a young company working for a good cause; we work hard and play hard.” He adds, “Our collective goal to change the transportation industry by integrating the various mobility service providers under a common platform is what wakes us up in the morning, energised and ready to face new challenges every day.” With offices in Haikou, Wuhan, Beijing, Harbin and Hohhot and Singapore, the company employs over 40 transit industry and technology experts to make transportation across the world more convenient. Under the leadership of veterans in the payment, mass transit and internet industries, the future looks bright for the company.
Regarding the future growth, Keifer Lv says, “Our plan is to cover over 120 cities by the end of 2020, serving a population base of over 500 million in China and other parts of Asia and Europe.” Keifer is confident that the company will be able to achieve the target as the team is consisted of professionals who have extensive transit industry experience and reach.
In less than a year of its existence, this young and vibrant start-up has already signed agreements with 15 city-government agencies to implement the next generation mobility service. The coverage includes some of the provincial capitals of China such as Haikou, Harbin and Hohhot, serving population base of over 35 million people. The come is also in discussion with a few key partnerships with Southeast Asian countries and the Oceania region.
The Internet and Mobile Internet have educated consumers how to make use of the technological advances available to enjoy a higher quality of life. Despite consumers’ demand, that advancement is yet to be seen or not fully experienced in the transportation industry. But TransitLink is changing that by bringing new innovations into the sector. Consumers can anticipate with pleasure that public transport system is on the cusp of transformation with TransitLink. “We are the Internet of Mobility, and the driving force towards change in a closed and conservative industry,” says Keifer.
QUOTES
“TransitLink platform has a consumer-centric mobile app that enables multi-modal trip planning, seamless one-stop payment and real-time route optimization”
“TransitLink provides the most advanced electronic payment platform to enable commuters to pay their travel fare by QR code on their mobile”
