Integrated Urban E-ticketing Schemes – Conflicting Objectives of Corresponding Stakeholders

Integrated e-ticketing has long been on the agenda of EU transport policy, but yet there is no wider-scale application available. The implementation of an integrated e-ticketing scheme is a complex process that requires synchronized activity of heterogeneous actors. This paper assesses the different interests and barriers of private actors, governments and users and highlights conflicts of objectives regarding e-ticketing schemes. Particular focus lies on the demand side, as they are the ones that finally decide to purchase the product or not. It will be shown that e-ticketing only represents one aspect of high-quality public transport and that other attributes must be kept in mind as well to serve user needs.