The transportation industry has rapidly progressed; from the continual innovation to mobile payment technology to the growth of new technology. With our partnerships, we’re able to gain the latest insight into how the industry is growing, changing, and innovating.  I got the opportunity to chat with Don Vennell, Account Executive at Richard N. Best Associates, Inc. He provided me with valuable insight into how the industry is shaping up, the challenges he faces, and where he believes the industry will be in the future:

Q: As the industry transforms, what are the most important changes happening today?

Don: Mobile applications and payment technology is here to stay…and evolve. Just as credit cards became a way of doing business years ago and continued to become more and more popular, so will mobile payment continue to gain popularity and utilization, especially in urban settings.  We are seeing younger generations moving back to the cities…with their smart phones!  This will continue to grow and more companies are going to want more ways to pay for their purchases through mobile payment technology.

Q: What are some of the innovations you believe are on the horizon?

D: Eventually, traditional hardware begins to change and evolve significantly. But more and more equipment providers are responding to their customers’ needs by offering technology that enables your phone to become your “electronic ticket”. Most operations will gradually move more and more toward mobile payment. Mobile payment can lower the cost of overhead and administration, and provide relevant financial and operations data almost immediately. It’ll take time, but I think it is inevitable that hardware as we know it today will be eliminated.                                                       

Q: What are the biggest challenges you’ve faced?

D: One of the things we’ll always face is integrating with other systems. We’re fortunate to work with Passport because your team is able to integrate with so many applications. Every time I’m on the phone with Alex, Sales Associate from Passport, I’m always hearing – ‘Yes, we can do that’. This whole open model with being able to interface with other systems is not easy with hardware.  It takes a lot of work on behalf of manufacturers, local providers, operations companies.

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Q: How has the partnership with Passport helped you address and overcome challenges?

D: Passport offers a complete mobile pay / digital permit / enforcement package.  The package is a solution for areas that simply cannot use traditional revenue control systems; whether it be physical space, pure economics, or any other reason, Passport gives us a way to interface and work with decision makers that have challenges and need solutions. We can help them.