On the Applicability of Payment Channel Networks for Allocation of Transport Ticket Revenues

In many public transport networks, multiple providers cooperate to offer integrated services and, consequently, provide integrated fare collection. Thus, ticket revenues need to be redistributed so that each provider receives its respective share. Typically, the customers’ travel behavior is surveyed and the fares paid are aggregated over certain periods of time, and the revenue is periodically allocated based on this information. To avoid a centralized trusted third party or the exchange of sensitive information between providers, we present an approach that integrates revenue allocation directly into the payment process: The proposed approach is based on payment channel networks and utilizes multi-hop payments to perform revenue allocation. We thereby show how to make use of payment channel networks in this setting as well as the corresponding benefits.