Train Dispatch: Urban mobility and the next frontier

By Chapin Flynn , Mastercard Global Urban Mobility Lead

“Our passengers will decide what we do.”??

That was the simple, but powerful conclusion of my friend Peter van Dijk , speaking with me on stage at Transport Ticketing Events ' flagship convening Transport Ticketing Global (TTG), in London last week. Peter, the CEO of Translink in the Netherlands, was discussing the imminent rollout of a new EMV closed loop card that will launch on April 1st and is expected to have millions of cards in circulation by mid 2026.

His statement, that it is the needs and desires of passengers that shapes our decisions, was a perfect summation of an event where the concepts of choice, flexibility and inclusivity were front and center.??

Inclusivity is built into the physical cards that riders in the Netherlands will use — borrowing elements of Mastercard’s touch card, with each card featuring a notch in the plastic to let people with visual impairments recognize it instantly.

During a roundtable we hosted on the first day of TTG, public and private sector partners discussed the progress being made on interoperability, and those central themes came to the fore again. As one panellist put it: “Interoperability means convenience for customers. They don’t have to worry about what color their bus is, if it’s brand A, B, or C… it just works.”??

“It just works” could be another tagline for this year’s TTG, which saw more than a thousand transportation and ticketing professionals come together from across the urban mobility ecosystem to meet, talk, and share their ideas for what truly works for riders around the world. Everyone is interested in tangible solutions that solve real problems, and although the problems are often universal, the solutions are rarely one size fits all.??

While EMV products are helping some transit agencies reach unbanked riders, open loop systems are continuing to thrive around the world. Last year, Mastercard played a pivotal role in bringing "Tap & Go" capabilities for international visitors to Beijing, letting them use their cards to make contactless payments to take train journeys around the city. In Copenhagen, we’re helping people access rental bikes with just a tap of their cards, making the simple choice, also one that’s sustainable. And in Costa Rica, our work to bring contactless payments to the bus system saw us pick up a TTG award for best smart ticketing program. Around the world, we’re helping to create solutions that simply work, for residents, workers and visitors.??

Whether it’s public mobility, like trains and buses, or private mobility like bikes and taxis, or even the automotive space with road tolls and EV charging, Mastercard is charting the path forward on urban mobility. We’re working to ensure that transport can be accessed with ease and convenience for all riders, while operators are able to lower costs and increase ridership. Delivering better urban mobility solutions means working with a range of innovative and committed partners, and we were proud to sign a new partnership agreement with Sfey at TTG, to expand EMV payment solutions across micromobility, public transportation, and EV charging.???

While TTG was filled with discussions around issues that have we have confronted for a while, such as protecting revenue, we also touched on ones that are just emerging, like the use of AI for transit solutions, it was clear that Peter had the right idea all along. If we’re led by our passengers, and a relentless focus on the needs of the people who actually use our transit solutions, we’ll always deliver the right outcomes. This year and beyond, Mastercard will be working with our partners to expand our capabilities and make transit accessible for all.

However they choose to travel, however they want to pay, our role is to make sure that everyone gets where they need to be.??