With the gusto of the joke Massimiliano Dona, number one of the National Consumers Union, calls him «office complications easy things». And he denounces: «The problem is that even if the app, when fully operational, worked well, as usual non-digital users, the elderly, tourists, foreigners, occasional travellers, the most fragile users are penalised.». This is the regional digital ticket, operational since last August and mandatory on all commuter routes managed by Trenitalia in the country, which has indisputable advantages and yet has attracted numerous criticisms from user and passenger associations.
Not all travelers are digitalised
Because not all travelers are sufficiently digitalized to buy the ticket online and then proceed from their reserved area on the Trenitalia application or by clicking on the purchased ticket that arrives via text message or e-mail to carry out the subsequent online check-in to validate the ticket and have the QrCode issued to pass the turnstiles, as is necessary in the Rome Termini station.
The tolerance of the controllers
It must be said that in recent months the Trenitalia controllers on board the trains, aware of the news, have shown themselves to be rather tolerant. This procedure provides, in the event of failure to self-validate the ticket online, the issuing of a fine of 5 euros to the passenger who however bought the ticket. Since many travelers had not understood this, in recent months Trenitalia staff have most often been understanding, proceeding with direct validation on board the train to prevent the ticket from being reused. But it is clear that the passenger in difficulty can (and must) go to the train conductor (who in the meantime has been equipped with IT tools for on-board validation), as Altroconsumo explains well.
The endless changes throughout the day
On the other hand, the digital ticket allows you to modify the ticket as many times as you want throughout the day, changing the time and even the day before the actual 24 hours of the day of departure. That is, it was decided to transfer the experience of high-speed trains to regional ones, which however have different timings and above all are subject to more frequent oscillations. There are some routes that have a train leaving every 15 minutes. You can validate your ticket and then miss that train because it arrives shortly after. It is not uncommon at Termini where the queues are impressive even at the turnstiles and on peak days and hours you risk being trapped in the queue and missing the train. At that point it is necessary to speak to the conductor of the next train to explain what happened.
The customer segment that prefers paper
Above all, we put ourselves in the shoes of travelers who are a little older, who are certainly not accustomed to smartphones: they still prefer the paper ticket which however must be stamped at the machines in the station, a procedure which the online self check-in allows to bypass and which therefore would have its rationale. One of the great critics of this innovation, which Trenitalia now promises to change by October by arriving at automatic check-in five minutes after the departure of the train, was Paolo Benanti, professor at the Pontifical Gregorian University and Seattle University as well as advisor to Pope Francis on artificial intelligence.
Benanti’s criticisms on LinkedIn
Benanti wrote in a post on LinkedIn all his objections to the new method of validating tickets, which he does not hesitate to define as a “bad example of digitalisation”. «How will a foreign traveler without internet validate the ticket? How can an elderly person handle it? Or how to distribute the title from offices to employees if smartphones don’t open the link? In short, a story to reflect on to avoid making counter-innovation and dumping the company’s wrong choices on the fragile part of the chain, the customer”, attacked Benanti.
Comparison with tech users
This was echoed by the CEO of the start-up Learnn, Luca Mastella, who recounted his misadventure with self-obliteration in an article published on Wired. Mastella explained that he had received a fine for failing to check-in but after the publication of the post he added that he had been contacted directly by Trenitalia: «I was asked to participate in a call with several members of their team during which we will work together to improve the user experience and communication of the importance of checking in.”
The table with the associations
It must be said that Trenitalia has not escaped criticism. And it got to work to improve the process that Pierpaola Pietrantozzi, national secretary of Adiconsum, defines «an inevitable and necessary simplification». «We don’t want to fight rearguard battles because we all need to equip ourselves to push progress, we have only expressed the need to facilitate online check-in because many passengers are unable to do so”, says Pietrantozzi. For this reason, a discussion table was opened between Trenitalia and the consumer associations which had its last meeting on May 28th, in which Assoutenti also actively participated. The rationale of digital, moreover, is to provide information to the passenger (announcements of delays, cancellations) and will, eventually, allow automatic reimbursement in the event of delays.
The investment that Trenitalia makes
«The introduction of the digital ticket, which is added to the traditional paper ticket, was created to offer travelers more flexibility and an even more complete and sustainable travel experience. Already 3 out of 4 travelers validate their ticket with digital check-in before boarding and, to support those who may have potential difficulties in validating their ticket digitallywe are working on a further development that will allow automatic ticket validation by October. If it is impossible to check in the ticket, passengers are required to notify the train conductor as soon as they board. Failure to validate or communicate to the train conductor will result in a fine of 5 euros. The advantages, for those who choose the regional digital ticket, are many; such as smart caring which allows us to update travelers in real time on the traffic status of their train”, says Maria Giaconia, Regional Director and Intermodal Development of Trenitalia.
Automatic self check-in arrives in October
By October we are working on a further development that will allow automatic activation, i.e. automatic ticket check-in at train departure. This is an IT platform implementation job. This way no one will be fined and no one will be able to avoid the obliteration of the title. So will technology be the one to resolve the impasse? We wait for October, in the meantime, we recommend attention (on the part of those who travel) and tolerance (on the part of those who control).
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