Luzerne County Transportation Authority and Modeshift Partner to Improve Rider Experience

Luzerne County residents will now be able to purchase tickets with just a few taps on their mobile devices or by using a smart card

WILKES-BARRE, Pa.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Modeshift, a leading contactless fare collection system provider, announced today a partnership with Luzerne County Transportation Authority (LCTA) to launch a new mobile fare and data collection system, servicing Wilkes-Barre, PA, and its surrounding areas of Luzerne County.

Modeshift has worked closely with the LCTA to plan, design and implement the mobile ticketing system, which will significantly increase ease of use for riders, streamlining the process to request and pay for a ticket with just a few clicks on your mobile device. The data fare collection solution will also provide the LCTA with valuable insights to help optimize transit routes, while improving accessibility for riders.

“We’re excited to implement this new mobile fare technology with Modeshift to simplify the ticketing process for our riders throughout Luzerne Country who rely on us every day,” said Robert Fume, executive director for the LCTA. “This new mobile ticketing technology eliminates the need of having the exact cash amount, and offers our riders an opportunity to purchase a ticket directly from a mobile device or smart card, linked to their debit or credit card, without worrying about the exact amount of cash on hand.”

“Our mobile ticketing platform and data fare collection system will dramatically improve ease of use for riders in Luzerne County and simplify back-end operations for LCTA,” said Miroslav Katsarov, CEO of Modeshift. “At Modeshift, we are committed to providing transit agencies with intelligent, user-friendly transportation solutions that improve efficiency and increase ridership.”

Features of the Modeshift mobile app and online system will include:

• Mobile Ticketing: Riders can easily plan their trip and purchase fares through a mobile application.
• Smart Cards: Riders without a mobile device can request special smart cards from the agency and then connect their cards or cash to their account.
• Web Portal: Travelers can also access many of the above benefits online, streamline trip planning and fare purchases.
• Data Collection: Enables LCTA to optimize its system based on real-time insights, make data-driven decisions and save valuable resources.

About The Luzerne County Transportation Authority
The Luzerne County Transportation Authority (LCTA) was incorporated in 1972 as an Urban Mass Transit Administration (UMTA), PennDOT, City Demonstration Agency of Wilkes-Barre, and Federal Disaster Assistance Administration (FDAA) demonstration project in response to service disruptions resulting from Hurricane Agnes. Since then, LCTA has grown to about 150 employees and provides fixed-route and ADA paratransit service. In terms of labor representation, Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU) Local 175 and Teamsters 401 represent LCTA drivers and maintenance employees. LCTA has 22 bus routes, including five evening routes. This year, LCTA is celebrating its Golden Anniversary.

About Modeshift
Modeshift, Inc. is a technology company that helps transit agencies modernize their user-facing technology and the underlying infrastructure to improve efficiency, increase ridership and provide adequate, sustainability-oriented service. It is the only all-in-one digital mobility infrastructure platform that also gives the transit industry the tools to reduce their carbon emissions and aim for sustainability. Our core product is Account-based Fare Collection System, based on the Microsoft Azure cloud and delivered as a service (Software as a Service – SaaS). Modeshift also provides other subsystems which complete the stack of hardware and software needed to operate a modern transit system such as Mobile ticketing, CAD/AVL and real-time passenger information.