E-ticketing takes another step forward

Public transportation agencies have relied on paper tickets to derive payment quantities since the first e-ticketing pilots.

Two industry vendors, however, aim to change that dynamic.

Sysdyne Technologies, a cloud-native software platform for ready-mixed concrete producers, and HaulHub Technologies, which has an electronic construction platform for transportation agencies, collectively launched Owners Link as a technical two-way integration between construction materials point-of-sale systems and state transportation agency project portals.

The companies say the new integration will provide agencies with layers of trustworthiness and assurance to meet the parameters the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) outlines, paving the way for e-tickets to be used as a true replacement for paper tickets.

“Owners Link creates value for the material supplier, the project owner and the contractor – yet another reason why cloud-native solutions for the construction supply chain should be considered,” says Ed Rusch, chief sales and marketing officer at Sysdyne.

“The added capability will allow the heavy material supplier to select a project from a certified list in lieu of hand typing project data into a free form text box. Material tickets with accurate project descriptions, contract numbers and codes could dramatically improve the downstream reconciliation and billing experiences for all the project stakeholders.”

Owners Link will be made available to all point-of-sale providers, making it a component for the agency planning to use e-ticketing for payments. The integration helps route material tickets to the right agency projects by eliminating the chance of data input error at the scale and enhancing standardization efforts. This ensures e-tickets arrive on a project in a timely manner, according to the companies.

Additionally, Sysdyne and HaulHub say the integration will facilitate a first-of-its-kind two-way transfer of data whereby an owner’s project list can be shared with the material supplier through the point-of-sale interface. The ticket can be returned to the owner within moments of being created, eliminating any chance for the ticket to be altered by someone.

“The paper ticket’s advantage was that, once printed, the ticket could not be altered,” says Corey Paradis, vice president at HaulHub. “Owners Link provides enhancements to existing point-of-sale systems that give agencies confidence the data is trustworthy and can be used for project payments.”

Gregory Nadeau, a former FHWA administrator who is now a strategic advisor to HaulHub, says the private sector is coming together to find solutions that will support and accelerate digital project delivery transformation efforts led by state departments of transportation (DOTs) and FHWA.

“Owners Link is a great example of how we can do better,” Nadeau says. “It will provide access to a critical data link for infrastructure owners and will serve as a catalyst to further collaboration between industry and public sector infrastructure agencies.”

Elsewhere in e-ticketing

Another industry vendor focused on e-ticketing is FleetWatcher.

FleetWatcher e-ticketing enhances efficiencies by providing the plant, driver, crew and customer the same ticket data at the same time.

After initially setting up customers, drivers and company employees, FleetWatcher says its e-ticketing information can be shared for all future projects without additional effort. This saves the time normally devoted to manually collecting, tracking and sorting paper tickets, and it reduces worksite hazards because inspectors automatically receive the information needed without having to dodge trucks while collecting tickets.

Additionally, FleetWatcher says users no longer have to worry about lost tickets with its system. Requests for tickets from prior projects are easily and quickly handled regardless of how long ago a project was completed, the company says.

FleetWatcher’s e-ticketing capabilities are part of the company’s Materials Management Solution, which a number of state DOTs have tested and approved since 2016.