Cross Revenue Recovery System

The Cross system - developed in partnership with Serco Metrolink (operators of Manchester Metrolink) - can save transport operators vital time, trouble and money by streamlining its methods of tracking and prosecuting fare dodgers.

How does it work?
On finding a passenger without a valid ticket, the inspector phones the transport operator’s customer services department which uses the Cross system to check for any previous offences and if the address given is valid. A ticket is then issued and all details recorded on the system.

If the offender fails to pay the fine, the system generates warning letters at set times and automatically increases the fine to cover extra administration costs. This can be repeated a number of times depending on how the transport operator works. If payments are received, these are also recorded in the system as well as any appeals. After a pre-determined interval the system creates a prosecution report listing all outstanding offenders who can then be prosecuted via the courts. In addition to generating all the legal paperwork, our system records the outcome of the prosecution and stores the offender’s information for future reference.

PocketCross
Clearwater has also developed a PDA version of Cross (Pocket Cross) to work along side the main database system. Inspectors can use Pocket Cross to check for previous offences and validate addresses when dealing with offenders. They can then record the actual tickets on the PDA, rather than having to phone their customer services department. These tickets are downloaded to the main database system at the end of each day along with electronic waybill information for reporting purposes.

The main benefits of using the Pocket Cross system along-side the main database system are:

To improve the effectiveness of name and address checking.
Reduce the time passengers wait to be processed.
Increase productivity
Reduce the workload with Customer Services.

We have recently developed a new version of the PDA Cross application (Pocket Cross) which allows the inspector to check for previous offences and validate addresses by interrogating the company’s main database via web services, through a GPRS connection. This enables checks to be carried out on the live data and hence even if an offender has been caught minutes earlier, this will be reported to the inspector. Ticket details are downloaded to the main database at the moment of saving using the same method, and as such the main database is always kept up to date.

Nexus, operators of the Metro in Newcastle are now using this new version of Pocket Cross to help catch fare dodgers. Read the BBC news report about this new technology by clicking here.

Newspaper Articles
Please click on the links below to view newspaper articles related to the Cross System.

Clearwater Consultancy Ltd. 18 St. George’s Street, Chorley, Lancashire. PR7 2AA

Tel: +44 (0)1257 272730