The Committee on Transport and Tourism adopted an own-initiative report by Dieter-Lebrecht KOCH (EPP, DE) on delivering multimodal integrated ticketing in Europe.

The report recalled that EU-wide personal mobility is a prerequisite for the exercise of basic freedoms and that consumers should therefore be able to access comprehensive, accurate and neutral information regarding both timetables and connections about multimodal and cross-border transport links for seamless, facilitated door-to-door travel with high standards of comfort and to make the necessary reservations and payments online.

Despite ongoing efforts, in most of the Member States the option of purchasing tickets for national and cross-border journeys within the EU via the Internet or mobile application is still lacking. This geo-blocking should not be permitted.

Towards a clear framework: Members called on the Commission, with regard to multimodal integrated ticketing services, to take the measures necessary to create a clear framework. It urged that a platform for dialogue be established, involving all the representatives of the transport sector and competent authorities on a local, regional, national and European level, to develop feasible arrangements for the phased EU-wide introduction of interoperable electronic ticketing systems taking account of the entire journey cycle from planning to the purchasing of tickets.

Transparent pricing: Members noted that consumers should at all times be given transparent pricing information and that reservation and payment systems should clearly indicate the total ticket price for any selected journey, including compulsory elements such as taxes and charges. The EU and Member States are called upon to do more to restrict fees for the use of credit cards or other reasonable forms of payment for public transport services.

Members underlined the importance of safeguarding different pricing models and payment options (allowances, discounts, etc.) so as to ensure that certain groups in society (the unemployed, retired, students, large families, people with low income and other disadvantaged social groups) may benefit from multimodal ticketing systems in the EU.

The competent authorities in the Member States are called upon to: 

• introduce, by 2020 at the latest, in close cooperation with the representatives of the transport sector, national updated timetable and fare information systems on the basis of open interfaces linking the travel data for regional and local urban public transport operated by both private and publicly owned companies, and to continue updating such systems on a regular basis;
• ensure that, by 2020 at the latest, all forms of local public transport are equipped with intelligent systems relaying real-time information about the position of the transport vehicle and that the inclusion of such systems is a specification in calls for tender;
• make provision, by 2024 at the latest, on the basis of open interfaces, for the national timetable and fare information systems, with real-time information on local public transport operators’ timetables, to be networked on a cross-border basis and made accessible to operators, to providers of journey planners and to consumers.

The Commission is called upon to circulate a proposal requiring all providers to make available, on fair and equal terms, all the information needed for putting in place more comprehensive services and thereby giving travellers a genuine and accessible choice between the most sustainable, best-value or fastest connections, without prejudice to the commercial interests of the service providers involved. The Commission should identify and counter any potential danger of multimodal information and ticketing providers’ monopolising information.

Passengers’ rights: Members pointed out that European passenger rights are limited to the extent that they apply separately to each contract of carriage individually, but when a journey involves cross-border legs or multimodal transport, passenger rights cannot be guaranteed in the usual way. The Commission is urged therefore to respond to Parliament’s call, in its resolution on the 2011 Roadmap, for a Charter of Passengers’ Rights covering all forms of transport by bringing forward a proposal for such a Charter, including a separate section on multimodal journeys with clear and transparent protection of passengers’ rights in the multimodal context taking account of the specific characteristics of each transport mode, and integrated multimodal ticketing, by the end of 2017.

Underscoring the importance of data protection, Members called for clear conditions to be laid down for the use and transmission of data, particularly in respect of personal data, which should be processed and used only in ‘anonymised’ form and only for the purposes of facilitating intermodal ticketing. The report stated that the purchase and payment of tickets via mobile and internet applications should preferably be available without need of registration in the system.

Funding: Members called for the continuation of support for stakeholders for innovative problem solving, and therefore for the relevant sources of EU financing, e.g. the Shift2Rail Innovation Programme 4 under the Horizon 2020 programme and the Connecting Europe Facility, along with the structural funds to be not only maintained but developed. The European Investment Bank is urged to make appropriate use of the European Fund for Strategic Investment in this regard.

The European Parliament adopted by 592 votes to 62, with 52 abstentions, a resolution on delivering multimodal integrated ticketing in Europe.

Parliament recalled that EU-wide personal mobility is a prerequisite for the exercise of basic freedoms and that consumers should therefore be able to access comprehensive, accurate and neutral information regarding both timetables and connections about multimodal and cross-border transport links for seamless, facilitated door-to-door travel with high standards of comfort and to make the necessary reservations and payments online.

Despite ongoing efforts, in most 4of the Member States the option of purchasing tickets for national and cross-border journeys within the EU via the Internet or mobile application is still lacking. This geo-blocking should not be permitted.

Towards a clear framework: Parliament called on the Commission, with regard to multimodal integrated ticketing services, to take the measures necessary to create a clear framework. It urged that a platform for dialogue be established, involving all the representatives of the transport sector and competent authorities on a local, regional, national and European level, to develop feasible arrangements for the phased EU-wide introduction of interoperable electronic ticketing systems taking account of the entire journey cycle from planning to the purchasing of tickets.

Transparent pricing: consumers should at all times be given transparent pricing information and that reservation and payment systems should clearly indicate the total ticket price for any selected journey, including compulsory elements such as taxes and charges. In this regard, the EU and Member States are called upon to do more to restrict fees for the use of credit cards or other reasonable forms of payment for public transport services.

The resolution stressed the importance of safeguarding different pricing models and payment options (allowances, discounts, etc.) so as to ensure that certain groups in society (the unemployed, retired, students, large families, people with low income and other disadvantaged social groups) may benefit from multimodal ticketing systems in the EU.

The competent authorities in the Member States are called upon to: 

• introduce, by 2020 at the latest, in close cooperation with the representatives of the transport sector, national updated timetable and fare information systems on the basis of open interfaces linking the travel data for regional and local urban public transport operated by both private and publicly owned companies, and to continue updating such systems on a regular basis;
• ensure that, by 2020 at the latest, all forms of local public transport are equipped with intelligent systems relaying real-time information about the position of the transport vehicle and that the inclusion of such systems is a specification in calls for tender;
• make provision, by 2024 at the latest, on the basis of open interfaces, for the national timetable and fare information systems, with real-time information on local public transport operators’ timetables, to be networked on a cross-border basis and made accessible to operators, to providers of journey planners and to consumers.

The Commission is called upon to circulate a proposal requiring all providers to make available, on fair and equal terms, all the information needed for putting in place more comprehensive services and thereby giving travellers a genuine and accessible choice between the most sustainable, best-value or fastest connections, without prejudice to the commercial interests of the service providers involved. The Commission should identify and counter any potential danger of multimodal information and ticketing providers’ monopolising information.

Passengers’ rights: Parliament pointed out that European passenger rights are limited to the extent that they apply separately to each contract of carriage individually, but when a journey involves cross-border legs or multimodal transport, passenger rights cannot be guaranteed in the usual way. The Commission is urged therefore to respond to Parliament’s call, in its resolution on the 2011 Roadmap, for a Charter of Passengers’ Rights covering all forms of transport by bringing forward a proposal for such a Charter, including a separate section on multimodal journeys with clear and transparent protection of passengers’ rights in the multimodal context taking account of the specific characteristics of each transport mode, and integrated multimodal ticketing, by the end of 2017.

Underscoring the importance of data protection, Parliament called for clear conditions to be laid down for the use and transmission of data, particularly in respect of personal data, which should be processed and used only in ‘anonymised’ form and only for the purposes of facilitating intermodal ticketing. The resolution stated that the purchase and payment of tickets via mobile and internet applications should preferably be available without need of registration in the system.

Funding: Members called for the continuation of support for stakeholders for innovative problem solving, and therefore for the relevant sources of EU financing, e.g. the Shift2Rail Innovation Programme 4 under the Horizon 2020 programme and the Connecting Europe Facility, along with the structural funds to be not only maintained but developed. The European Investment Bank is urged to make appropriate use of the European Fund for Strategic Investment in this regard.