Global air transport technology provider SITA has called for stronger collaboration among transport operators to address disruptions in intermodal travel, warning that poor coordination across transport networks is increasing passenger stress and causing revenue losses for service providers.
The appeal follows the release of a new white paper titled “Navigating the Seams of Seamless Travel”, published in Geneva, where the company is headquartered.
According to SITA, travel networks are rapidly expanding across aviation, rail, maritime and urban transport systems, but journeys frequently break down at transfer points where passengers move from one mode of transport to another.
The company said these disruptions often occur because information is not properly shared between transport operators, leaving passengers to manage missed connections and conflicting rules on their own.
SITA noted that the lack of coordination creates operational blind spots across the wider transport system while quietly eroding revenue for service providers.
“Today, the journey breaks down at the handovers, and that is where value is lost for both passengers and operators”, said Director of Adjacent Markets at SITA, Benoit Verbaere.
“Passengers are forced to act as their own coordinators, stitching together tickets, timetables, and rules just to reach their destination. When operators work together to provide one trusted, real-time view of the journey, stress is reduced and confidence, loyalty, and value return to the system”, he said.
The report argued that fixing these problems does not necessarily require new infrastructure or standalone platforms, but rather better integration of existing systems through shared data and coordinated decision-making.
SITA explained that when operators share visibility of passenger flows and align their responses to disruptions, passengers are able to move more confidently while operators can make faster and more informed operational decisions.
The company also called for a shift in how disruptions are managed across the transport ecosystem. Instead of leaving passengers uncertain when connections are missed, operators should provide clear real-time alternatives such as continuing the journey, accepting automatic rebooking or switching transport modes.
“Passengers remember how disruption is handled”, Verbaere added.
“When they feel informed and supported, they come back. Intermodal collaboration is not about building another platform. It is about creating trust, governance, and shared ways of working so operators can act together when it matters”.
The white paper proposes a practical framework that places passengers at the centre of transport planning, with solutions designed to provide clear information across different digital platforms and levels of passenger experience.
SITA also recommended a modular and interoperable system design that can integrate with existing transport technologies, supported by pilot projects before full-scale implementation.
As an example, the report highlighted the TravelWise initiative in Athens, where an Intermodal Data Collaboration Platform now integrates flight, rail, ship, weather and local event data into a shared operational system used by transport operators.
Through dashboards and application programming interfaces (APIs), participating partners are able to respond faster to disruptions and provide passengers with clearer options when connections are at risk.
Rather than pursuing large-scale transformation programmes, SITA recommended a phased approach that focuses first on high-traffic travel corridors and major event transport networks.
The company urged industry stakeholders to identify key breakdown points in passenger journeys and use governed data sharing to transform fragmented travel experiences into coordinated and efficient transport services.