Interview and Analysis: Is the SL Access Card Outdated?

If you choose to pay for something you don’t need, simply because you can’t be bothered with the alternative, are you lazy or is the system faulty?

Down below is a transcript of an open-ended interview I did with a young women waiting for the subway to arrive. Of course, I started out by asking whether or not she actually wanted to be interviewed, stating that I was from KTH and that the purpose of the interview was to gather data regarding the opinions of travelers of the metro system. Naturally, I also asked whether or not she was okay with being audio recorded, saying that the audio recording only would be used in the study, to which she responded that yes she was.

Q: How many days per week do you travel by subway?

A: Umm, usually about three days a week.

Q: How do you pay for your travels?

A: With a monthly SL Access Card.

Q: How do you refill your Access Card?

A: I go to Pressbyrån.

Q: Why Pressbyrån?

A: There’s one right by where I live, so it’s convenient.

Q: Instead of paying in advance, would you be interested in being billed at the end of each month with the trips you’ve made?

A: Yes, definitely. Since I don’t use the subway every day I’d probably save a lot by doing so. 

Q: Would you be interested in using an app that shows you your travel- and cost statistics?

A: I don’t know, how does the app work, exactly?

Me: It’d present you with an overview of the cost of your travels; how much did last month add up to? How many times did you travel, and so on.

A: Well, yes, that sound interesting, I guess that money thing would come in handy.

Me: How come?

A: Right now I don’t really know what my travels cost. I just refill my card every 90 days or so, so I don’t have to worry about it. All I have to do, really, is bring the card with me and I know I’m covered.

I thanked her for her time, and we parted ways.

Below, I’ll analyze the raw data gathered from the interview using a simple qualitative analysis, thus my goal is to gain an overall impression of the data and to find a(some) pattern(s).

My overall impression of the transcript presented above, is that the interviewee doesn’t need a monthly SL Access Card and that she is aware of this fact. She pays for one because, according to her, it is the easiest alternative for her, thus she is a customer willing to pay for convenience. This makes me question the SL Access Card. Is it outdated? I think it is and here’s why:

• If a customer of SL actively chooses to overpay, the system is flawed.

• Public transportation should be cheap and easy, not complicated and unnerving. Choosing and using an SL Access Card should be simple, but not simple in the way demonstrated by the interviewee.

• If you only travel three times per week, paying for a monthly SL Access Card should never be your easiest option. The interviewee is currently putting less then half of the cards capacity to use, therefor the SL Access Card does not fulfill its purpose.

Of course, the pattern I’ve presented has to be confirmed and re-confirmed in order to make sure that my initial impression isn’t bias. Regardless, I do believe that there has to be a better way of paying for your travels. Instead of paying ahead of time, why not pay at the end of each month?