moovel North America announced the launch of Fare Connect, a new hardware-agnostic, contactless mobile fare validation and calculation platform that allows transit agencies to implement new fare validation systems, or modify existing ones, at any time without the hassle of constricting proprietary hardware agreements.

After a highly successful trial implementation of Fare Connect, Calif.’s Orange County Transportation Authority (OCTA) chose to deploy the platform across their entire revenue fleet in 2017.

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. This remarkably flexible platform also equips transit agencies with the tools necessary to uplift their existing fare collection infrastructures to accept and validate mobile fares. Powered by moovel’s pioneering embedded software development kit, Fare Connect redirects transit agency's engineering staff from burdensome software development cycles to work that grows their core business.

“OCTA is committed to delivering the very best customer experience for riders of our regional transit system. That is why we partnered with moovel to expand our use of our moovel-powered ticketing solutions to incorporate their contactless mobile fare platform,” said Bill Mao, chief information officer at OCTA. “After a very positive limited implementation of Fare Connect on OCTA buses, we are excited to deploy the platform across the entire OCTA revenue fleet this year. I am delighted to continue our close relationship with moovel and deliver the very best experience for OCTA riders.”

Key Fare Connect benefits include:

• Rapid Implementation: Remote management and simplified mounting options result in a rapid and noninvasive installation process.

• Contactless Technology Integration: Works on all contactless technologies, including QR codes, Aztec barcodes, NFC, and Bluetooth to capture and validate fares in real-time.

• Hardware-Agnostic: Integrates with new or existing fare collection and validation systems; can be installed as a standalone solution with any hardware.

• Open API Configurations & Diverse Fare & Payment Capabilities: Provides a set of licensed open APIs, barcode, and NFC specifications to enable the widest range of payment methods.

• Real-Time Rider Intelligence: Automatically syncs with moovel’s back-office mobile ticketing management system, TOMS, to intelligently track rider movement and dynamically calculate fares.

• Premier Fraud Prevention & Data Security: Designed with in-depth visual and audio fraud prevention techniques, so operators can distinctly identify invalid tickets.