Public Sector
TEAM MEMBERS
The National Public Transport Authority was releasing a new unified bus fare system to make riding fares more equal for riders across cities in Israel. They called on Q for two needs: 1. To help frame the updated fare schedule in a way that would be well received by the public and 2. To design the user experience of validation machines and ticket kiosks so the public could know the cost for each ride.
Q provided The National Public Transport Authority with a PR plan to explain and announce the new system, as well as a framework for informing the public of the correct fares based on multiple levels of communication. The deliverables included: interactive screens, banner advertisements, landing pages, efforts with local travel apps, amongst more. When the new fare system was rolled out on August 1, 2022, the media response was positive during Phase I, with little public backlash during launch. The UX has been implemented across thousands of buses in Israel with plans for expansion over the coming months.
The Q team worked with the National Public Transport Authority to clearly define the new fare schedule succinctly. Upon laying out the plan, Q uncovered the overarching benefit for the majority of riders, which was summarized as, “Ride More, Pay Less.”
Over a series of breakout sessions and discussions, Q developed a creative brief, complete with the concise narrative and personas to understand each group’s respective concerns. This information was used to create the messaging and related PR materials.
As a product of the collaborative work, Q designed a system that explained the ride fares based on distances. The team included principles of slow and fast thinking by removing “intuitive” names for ride categories (i.e. “local ride” or “intercity ride”), which could lead to wrong assumptions about pricing and distances by passengers. Instead, a color naming method was used (i.e. “Yellow ride = less than 15 km”).
Q’s team designed UX principles for the validation machines on buses and trains and for ticket selling kiosks. By removing unnecessary information across screens and adding the color coding, the user experience became uncluttered, transparent, and easier to understand for riders.