Visa released the results of its second “Future of Urban Mobility Survey” and reports “the speed, security and ease of digital payments have helped shift global consumers’ payment preferences.”
The survey involved 11,550 adults who take transit in 14 global markets including in the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, France, Italy, United Kingdom, South Africa, United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Kazakhstan, Peru, Saudi Arabia and Egypt.
The survey found 45 percent of respondents prefer to pay for transit with contactless payments and 91 percent strongly or somewhat expect contactless payment options to be available. This is a slight increase over last year’s survey where 88 percent of respondents expected their local transit systems to offer a contactless option for payment.
Visa explains those with time-pressed lifestyles tend to want contactless payments. Survey respondents cited convenience (44 percent), fast transactions (40 percent), less worry about cash on hand (38 percent) and reduced contact (35 percent) as benefits to using contactless payment options.
Fare-capped rides would encourage 61 percent of respondents to ride more often. However, fare-capped payments were fourth of top elements that would entice respondents behind faster journey times (43 percent), more reliable schedules/timing (41 percent) and more available routes (30 percent).
Similar to last year’s survey, sustainability was a strong motivator for respondents’ use of transit. More than one in three respondents said sustainability was the top reason and 88 percent of respondents saying it was a factor in their decisions to use transit.
“Open transit systems help city residents sustain their livelihoods, connect to services and pursue activities that create a vibrant city life. Visa supports global transit operators to deliver digital tools to draw in more passengers and improve the overall experience,” the company said.
