EMT ITSO franchise obligations

[mattdickinson]

In the East Midlands Trains franchise agreement, it mentions that EMT are required to trial flexible ITSO ticketing. Does anyone know if this has happened or will happen?

2.5 The Franchisee shall, by [redacted], have undertaken a trial (for a 12 month period) of a ‘flexi-smart’ smart card based product having amongst other things the following characteristics:
(a) it will take place on the flows from Wellingborough and Kettering to London St Pancras (or alternative flows subject to the prior written consent of the Secretary of State);
(b) it will offer to customers a range of one-way fares available on Passenger Services during certain times of the Peak, Shoulder-Peak and Off-Peak periods (in each case as determined by the Franchisee in its absolute discretion) with different price levels, designed to incentivise customers who would use Passenger Services during the Peak to use Passenger Services during the Shoulder-Peak or Off-Peak periods;
(c) it will include a capping arrangement so that a customer is not charged more than the monthly season ticket price (plus a modest premium, at the Franchisee’s reasonable discretion) for journeys that they make using the ‘flexi-smart’ product on the relevant flow during a one month period; and
(d) it will be available to customers who shall be required to register their direct debit details and (at the Franchisee’s discretion) pay a monthly fee reflecting the convenience and flexibility of the ‘flexi smart’ product provided that the Franchisee shall not be permitted to charge such a fee to any customer who pays such a premium on the monthly season ticket price as referred to in paragraph 2.5(c) or vice versa

 

[yorkie]

The cap will be the Season ticket cost plus a premium to use smart cards?

This is the sort of nonsense that will put people off smart cards. I hope people boycott it, if there is a "premium"!

 

[Qwerty133]

This sounds like the kind of thing EMT marketing will be brilliant at. Bet they'll advertise it with a price comparrison using off peak tickets, travelling 3 times a week against the full priced season ticket. They'll spend years on this, while elsewhere still managing to mistake towns for cities or claiming charging 38% more is a sale.

 

[Deerfold]

This sounds like the kind of thing EMT marketing will be brilliant at. Bet they'll advertise it with a price comparrison using off peak tickets, travelling 3 times a week against the full priced season ticket. They'll spend years on this, while elsewhere still managing to mistake towns for cities or claiming charging 38% more is a sale.

Wow. That Leicester promotion really bugged you, didn't it?

 

[bb21]

The cap will be the Season ticket cost plus a premium to use smart cards?

This is the sort of nonsense that will put people off smart cards. I hope people boycott it, if there is a "premium"!

The way I read it, is that it is aimed at people who may or may not make sufficient journeys for a season ticket up-front to be appropriate. (For someone who is sure then a season ticket would be appropriate, which is not the sort of passengers this scheme caters for.)

If they don't (or only spend a little more than the cost of the season ticket) come the end of the month, they still only pay what they would otherwise have paid using paper tickets, whereas if they do, they are given the benefit of a slightly higher cap than the season ticket cost, which would still represent a saving over buying individual tickets.

It is an interesting initiative aimed at people who require a lot of flexibility in terms of how much they spend. I believe there may be a market for it, but the market may only be a small one.

 

[DelayRepay]

The way I read it, is that it is aimed at people who may or may not make sufficient journeys for a season ticket up-front to be appropriate. (For someone who is sure then a season ticket would be appropriate, which is not the sort of passengers this scheme caters for.)

If they don't (or only spend a little more than the cost of the season ticket) come the end of the month, they still only pay what they would otherwise have paid using paper tickets, whereas if they do, they are given the benefit of a slightly higher cap than the season ticket cost, which would still represent a saving over buying individual tickets.

It is an interesting initiative aimed at people who require a lot of flexibility in terms of how much they spend. I believe there may be a market for it, but the market may only be a small one.

I for one would use a ticket like this, even if it meant a small premium. I commute into London but not five days a week. Some weeks I have to be in London every day, but other weeks I might have to go somewhere else for a couple of days. I also have the option of working from home which I may take advantage of once or twice a week (including on an ad-hoc basis if I wake up and find disruption on the trains etc). To further complicate matters, some days one of my journeys will be off-peak and I sometimes go into London at the weekend for leisure...

I worked out that I don't go into London enough to buy an annual ticket, and I don't usually know my schedule far enough in advance to buy a monthly, so I end up buying a combination of weekly and daily tickets depending on my schedule. This costs me less overall but on a pro-rata basis I pay more for my journeys than a season ticket holder. There are also some months when I would have been able to save by buying a monthly ticket, but I don't know this until the end of the month.

So I would use a smartcard like the one described above, even it it was charging me a small premium. I think I'd save overall and would also avoid the hassle of having to buy tickets every week/day.