Modern automatic fare collection system for use at mega events

摘要

In today’s competitive transportationrnenvironment, transport operatorsrncontinuously look for ways to achieve arnlarger market share and gain greaterrnrevenue. There is an increasing demandrnfor the transport operators to meetrnexpectations of patronage growth in thernmidst of also taking care of issues such asrntechnology implementation andrnenvironmentally friendly objectives.rnOne way to meet these objectives isrnthrough the use of a ‘modern’ Automatic Fare Collection (AFC) system. This paperrnnames it ‘modern’ because AFC systemsrnhave long been regarded as just ‘another’rnstandalone system, complying withrntechnical standards and/or smartcardrnrequisites. Investors and transit ownersrnmerely purchased these systems to collectrncash or process credit payments. Indeed,rnthe AFC cries out for some mindsetrnrevolution in order for it to break awayrnfrom this mold. Otherwise, contractors, AFCrnindustrial experts and project implementersrnwould not gain the momentum to move thernstale industry forward.rnBy introducing of available technologiesrnthat can be applied to AFC, some transitrnoperators have already taken bold steps inrnimproving their services through thisrnsystem. A good example of which is largernmemory contactless payment smart cardrnwhich can now store more valuablerninformation which can benefit both therncustomer and operator. Another clearrnexample is the upgrade from a legacy farerncollection systems to AFC gates, whichrnrequire a series of labour intensive tasks ofrninteracting with customers in processingrnpayment, can now be upgraded and rely onrnticket inspecting part to becomernautomated – an immediate reduction inrnpassenger transfer time.rnEven though the AFC system is used as arnfare collecting tool, it can ultimately benefitrnthe transit operator by offering anrn‘innovative’ revenue generation option. Thisrnpaper discusses how the modern AFCrnsystem provides new businessrnopportunities for Transit Operators not onlyrnin the reduction of system operating costsrnbut also generate additional income byrnintegrating the systems, both hardware andrnsoftware, to provide passengers with arnmore diversified service.