From 15 to 18 June, Hamburg became the public transport capital of the world as it hosted the UITP Summit 2025. More than 10,000 participants from 108 countries came together to explore the present and future of sustainable mobility, discussing how we serve people better, more fairly, and more efficiently.
With over 200 speakers on the agenda, the Urban Mobility Open Payments Forum had a strong presence throughout the programme. Several of our members shared their expertise, and for the first time, we hosted our own stand: a space to connect, exchange knowledge, and address the challenges and opportunities of open-loop payment in public transport.
Catch up on everything we did and discussed at the Summit, plus a few snapshots of the amazing people who made it happen!
Innovative technologies in focus
The Forum kicked off strongly on the first day with the innovation guided tour “Beyond the Ticket: Account-Based and Open-Loop Fare Solutions”. Our members – Cubic, Hitachi Rail, Worldline, and Scheidt & Bachmann – presented their latest developments alongside other sector leaders such as INIT and Calypso.
Whether through contactless payments or modular ticketing systems, each solution aimed to improve accessibility, integration, and the overall passenger experience.
Cubic presented a range of tools enhancing fare collection, from AI-based fare evasion detection to predictive maintenance and a chatbot for customer service. Their new lightweight open payments solution, cFlex, drew attention for its ability to deliver contactless EMV quickly and with minimal system changes. FEnX, Cubic’s compact fare gate, also stood out for its blend of security and passenger flow efficiency.
Hitachi Rail introduced TRANSCITY, their adaptable, cyber-secure platform for multimodal ticketing. Already deployed in several countries, it showed how integrated systems can evolve with changing passenger expectations.
Worldline showcased Tap 2 Use, an innovative platform that pushes the boundaries of open-loop technology to deliver increased convenience for both travelers and operators. The presentation covered seamless group travel with differentiated pricing and capping as well as effortless access to transit insights through the Google Wallet integration. It also featured advanced admin tools including comprehensive customer care and automated revenue sharing between operators.
Scheidt & Bachmann displayed their FareGo PG|50, a gate designed for broad accessibility and robust fraud prevention. With intuitive visual cues and a high-resolution sensor system, it supports secure, smooth access for all passengers and is fully prepared to support open payments. Beyond the pure functionality for the passengers a high emphasis has ben laid on significant optimisation of service and maintainability thus decreasing total cost of ownership and increasing availability massively.
The tour was well attended and sparked many conversations that carried on well past the stands. It ended with a networking reception at the Forum’s booth, with refreshing drinks and insightful dialogue with our experts. A sincere thank you to everyone who joined us!
A deeper look at revenue collection
On the second day, the Forum hosted an expo session on the future of revenue collection systems, moderated by Simon Laker, Vice President Smart Mobility at Consult Hyperion.
The panel brought together key voices from across the sector. Mark Langmead of TransLink (Vancouver) opened the discussion by sharing how their new account-based fare collection system is set to offer distance-based fares, fare capping, and better access for students and lower-income groups. He also spoke of how integrating services beyond transit, like events and leisure, can drive adoption by embedding public transport into people’s daily lives.
To illustrate this, Mark gave the example of TransLink’s 75th anniversary of the electric trolleybus. They brought the original trolleybus back into service and released limited-edition Compass mini buses as collector items. Over 5,000 people showed up, and the miniatures sold out in a matter of hours. It clearly demonstrated how communication and campaigns like this can bring people closer to public transport, building trust and strengthening the connection with passengers.
Jonathan Hill from Google Wallet underlined the role of mobile in reducing barriers to access. “Mobile shortens the distance between the passenger and the transport system,” he said, emphasising that mobile channels already have an existing relationship with users, making it easier to communicate and serve them.
From Mastercard, Andy Taylor offered a broader look at the evolving payments ecosystem. In addition to supporting contactless transit payments, Mastercard is investing in digital identity, cybersecurity, and flexible payment solutions to respond to growing demand for personalised, secure, and user-centric systems.
Closing the session, Andrea Soehnchen, Forum Manager, reinforced the spirit behind the Urban Mobility Open Payments Forum. “People are surprised to see Mastercard, Visa, Discover all together at our stand”, she noted. “But that’s the point. This isn’t competition, this is a shared mission to advance open-loop mobility.”
Continuing the dialogue
On the final day of the Summit, the Forum hosted a dedicated workshop for public transport operators and authorities to continue the dialogue in a more focused setting. The workshop picked up where the expo session left off, exploring what’s holding back adoption, what passengers expect from modern payment systems, and how the Forum can offer practical support. Participants openly shared their challenges, lessons learned, and what has worked – or hasn’t – in their specific contexts.
These insights are being compiled and will feed into the Forum’s ongoing work. We’ll be reaching out to attendees in the coming weeks to keep the conversation going and identify next steps.
Thank you for being part of the #OpenLoopMobility journey
Beyond sessions and guided tours, the Forum stand was a space for meaningful connection. Whether visitors came by to understand the basics or dig into technical detail, we appreciated every conversation. The energy on Day 1 during our reception set the tone for the rest of the week, and that energy never faded!
A special thanks to our members and partners for their time, input, and enthusiasm. And yes, a few of them also sat down with us for interviews, so keep an eye on our LinkedIn for those insights coming soon.
The conversation about open-loop mobility in public transport is ongoing! If you would like to be part of it, the Forum is here for you.
Stay connected with us and be part of the movement of #OpenLoopMobility!
