moovel North America introduced Fare Connect, a hardware-agnostic, contactless mobile fare validation and calculation platform that allows transit agencies to implement new fare validation systems, or modify existing ones. Fare Connect combines the power of moovel’s proven mobile ticketing software with the speed and simplicity of contactless technology to make boarding convenient and simple. The flexible platform also equips transit agencies with the tools necessary to accept and validate mobile fares. Powered by moovel’s embedded software development kit, Fare Connect redirects transit agency engineering staff from burdensome software development cycles to work that grows their core business.
Fare Connect was launched across Orange County Transportation Authority's buses after a successful trial run.
"We piloted it last year on express buses and this year they're rolling it out on their entire fleet," said Sophia Maletz, technical project manager at moovel. Maletz explained that the system is operational offline as well as online "Because buses go in and out of network, we wanted it to be accurate across the buses."
Maletz explained that the agency has access to the software that manages where the tickets were used. "Your account is looked at in the back office and your fare is discounted from your account," said Maletz.
Riders can use an array of platforms to manage their accounts. 90 percent of Fare Connect is able to be managed through the app, and not through the website.
The Fare Connect offers remote management and is installed with a quick noninvasive process. The hardware-agnostic integrates with new or existing fare collection and validation systems; can be installed as a standalone solution with any hardware. The contactless technology integration works on all contactless technologies, including QR codes, Aztec barcodes, NFC and Bluetooth to capture and validate fares in real-time. It also offers fraud prevention & data security designed with in-depth visual and audio fraud prevention techniques, so operators can distinctly identify invalid tickets.
