The demand for a hassle-free and seamless transportation system is on the surge whilst real-time payments and digital payment gateways are increasingly evolving. Transit authorities in developed countries have established a solid foundation for end-to-end automated fare collection services, assisting in the market’s evolution. It is profoundly changing the conventional ticketing system due to a variety of advantages as local officials, public transportation planners, and other transport infrastructure stakeholders around the world place clear demands on these programs to make transit systems smarter and safer.
Importance of Automated Fare Collection System
Theft is less plausible with electronic tickets than it is with physical currency. When compared to paper-based ticketing, the automated fare collection system eliminates the expense of revenue collection. Since smart cards or tokens are reversible, the costs of copying, storage, and delivery of paper tickets are reduced.
A considerable amount of people in both developed and developing countries use public transportation, and to accommodate such an immense volume, effective and sufficient fare collection is critical.
For the Metro setting, Automated Fare Collection Systems have been widely adopted. There are several advantages to automatic fare collection systems over manual fare collection systems, including the fact that they need less manpower, fraud can be minimized and revenue loss is reduced. The installation of an automatic fare collection system is simple but effective. The passenger or user will create their own tickets for their trip.
Trends Followed In The Automated Fare Collection System.
Optical character recognition (OCR), magnetic stripe, near field communication (NFC), and smart cards are among the technologies used for the automated fare collection system. These technologies are being improved to increase their accuracy whilst top-ups reload these cards as a closed-loop implementation mechanism allows cards to collect tickets. As safety concerns around contactless debit and credit cards are resolved, this concept can become a viable alternative. Because of its benefits, contactless card payment technology is gaining popularity around the world.
Magnetic Stripe
Magnetic-stripe tickets are cardboard-like tickets with one or more data-encoding strips of oxidized paper. As the name implies, it is made up of oxidized material that has been configured with a magnet. Registered machines read the data on the stripe, which is used in a variety of areas, including fare collection.
The rising need for advanced ticketing systems in public transportation networks is a major factor behind the adoption of automated fare collection technologies. They are becoming ever more compatible with modern modes of transportation.
Conversely, the growing interest in automated fare collection in enhancing community transportation safety has facilitated the creation of new opportunities for multiple stakeholders in industrialized economies. The public’s need for a more reliable transit infrastructure has contributed to the implementation of an electronic fare collection system in both developing and developed countries. As a necessary consequence, it is propelling the market, and rapid growth is expected in the forecast timeframe.…