Bremer Straßenbahn AG, the municipal public transport company in the city of Bremen, is making the Abo-Online solution from HanseCom available to its customers. BSAG is creating a virtual customer centre in which passengers can manage their annual season tickets ("JahresTickets") themselves in real time. In shifting the process of ordering and managing annual season tickets onto the internet, the transport company is optimising its in-house processes and at the same time making life more convenient for its customers.

Karlsruhe/Hamburg, Germany

Bremer Straßenbahn AG (BSAG) has launched HanseCom's Abo-Online season ticket solution under the "Meine BSAG" brand. With immediate effect, the application will enable customers to manage their annual season tickets conveniently online, 24 hours a day. As a result, the transport company will reduce both the number of customers and waiting times in its customer centre. Not only that, back-office workflows that take up a lot of time and resources will be eliminated, enabling the staff responsible to spend more time on customer service or other projects.

Abo-Online gives customers an easy way to create season ticket subscriptions, make changes to their payment and address details and, if required, amend their contracts either at home or on the move - and all in real time. An interactive plan of fares is provided to help customers choose the right ticket by highlighting the tariff zones they require. The application then identifies the right price category on the basis of the selection made.

HanseCom Abo-Online is seamlessly integrated into the PTnova customer management and distribution background system used by BSAG. Customer and product data are transferred between the systems in real time; no personal data are stored on the front end. The solution is optimised for mobile devices and has been aligned with BSAG's corporate design.

"By launching Abo-Online as our 'Meine BSAG' application, we are aiming to offer our customers a higher-quality service," comments Katrin Weingarten, centre head of sales and marketing at BSAG. "We want our customers to be able to buy and manage annual season tickets, change their address or select a new tariff zone at any time."

"We have enjoyed an open, constructive and productive working relationship with HanseCom for many years," Weingarten adds.

Alongside Abo-Online and PTnova from HanseCom, BSAG also uses other solutions provided by companies within the init Group for its ticketing system, including point of sale devices from INIT GmbH. In liaison with init, BSAG also joined forces with its partners VWG and BremerhavenBus to launch the BOB (Bequem ohne Bargeld or "conveniently cashless") offering, a cashless, account-based billing procedure that offers passengers a best price guarantee.

Bremer Straßenbahn AG carries around 105 million passengers each year. Eight tram lines and more than 40 bus routes cover the city of Bremen itself and the surrounding area within the federal state of Lower Saxony. Bremer Straßenbahn AG's network of routes encompasses a total of 620km - 505km in bus routes and 115km of tram lines. The company is constantly expanding its network, vehicles and organisation. To take one example, since December 2018 BSAG has gradually been integrating Google Pay, Apple Pay and the Sparkassen (savings banks) app as mobile payment methods at its ticket machines. E-tickets are available via the journey planner app.

About HanseCom

HanseCom, a company of the init group, develops software solutions for the public transportation sector. The company is an expert in the field of cross-regional, mobile ticketing, urban mobility platforms and customer management systems. With many years of experience in the industry, HanseCom supports more than 60 transport companies and associations in managing their sales processes and the sale of mobile tickets. HanseCom's product portfolio includes the PT customer management system and the national, mobile ticketing platform HandyTicket Deutschland, which has been successfully established on the market for more than ten years. HanseCom has its headquarters in Germany.