Passport brings traffic management platform to the UK

Called Passport Platform, the solution is intended to connect multiple modes of transportation and payments and provide a way for cities to understand, manage and collaborate with an ecosystem of mobility services.

Adam Warnes, vice president of UK operations at Passport, says the company’s focus is to give local authorities, cities, rural authorities one source of data which will allow them to make smarter decisions to reach their goals for easing congestion, promoting sustainable transport or air quality.

Passport’s research shows 83% of drivers say parking machines do not work when they need them. Five out of ten, of the UK councils that responded reveal that they have parking problems in their cities. Also, illegal parking is on the increase and 27% of UK councils say the rise of new modes of transport such as rideshares and dockless cycles are causing problems.

“Dockless bikes came in overnight and have created a huge amount of problems for local authorities with bikes being dumped and with no one having an understanding of usage, ownership or licensing,” Warnes adds.

Passport has also found out that a third of councils suffer from inadequate funding for their parking and public transportation programmes.

Warnes believes congestion is at an ‘all time high’ and drivers are becoming more frustrated at the competition for kerbside space.

“We want to equip those responsible for planning, managing and enforcing parking and public transportation with a scalable platform that meets the needs of commuters while improving back-office efficiencies for councils.”

Passport has been working with Westminster City Council via its %$Linker: 2 External <?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-16"?><dictionary /> 0 0 0 link-external ParkRight false https://www.westminster.gov.uk/parkright false false%> app since 2017. According to Warnes: “From Westminster's point of view, ParkRight enabled them to interact with customers to understand their travel and buying behaviour and use of their space in congestion.”

Khristian Gutierrez, chief revenue officer at Passport, says the company’s goal is to partner with cities: “We don't see the city or the council as a means to get to the end user. Instead we look through these relationships as deep partnerships and ways that we can help them facilitate improvements to their operations.”