How Perth launched Australia’s first multimodal smartcard ticketing solution
Making Perth more livable: We partnered with the Public Transport Authority of Western Australia to help Perth launch the nation’s first multimodal contactless fare collection system, SmartRider. 15 years later, we supported the city with the Perth SmartRider Upgrade Project, introducing the CloudFare® back office to enable multi-token payment acceptance, launching a new generation of SmartRider cards with more advanced card encryption, and enabling cEMV acceptance (payment by credit/debit card or smart device) — all without disrupting the daily journeys of Australia’s fourth largest city.
- 2.3M Residents served by the system
- 4,000 Contactless validators deployed
- 3M SmartRider cards in circulation
- 16% Increase in fare revenue, 5 years after implementation
- 800K+ SmartRider transactions across the network per day
The solution
The Tag on, Tag off system allows passengers to enter and exit buses, ferries, and trains, simply tapping their SmartRider card on a validator. Business rules configured in the CloudFare® back office make sure customers pay the correct fare for their combined trips up to a fare cap, after which further travel is free.
Arrive’s smart card validators were installed on buses and ferries and within access control gates at railway stations. Vehicle GPS systems were integrated into CloudFare® back office, enabling fares to be calculated by zone. The comprehensive back office monitors the hardware and handles smart card and retail fare collection.
The Arrive Impact
Benefits for the city
- Steps into the future of fare payments: Open payments pave the way for mobility as a service (MaaS)
- Passenger-centric system: A simplified system attracts more public transport users
- Data-rich system: Insights inform mobility policy and result in transport that’s more accessible, affordable, and simpler to use
- Increased compliance: Less fare evasion, more fare revenue
Benefits for residents and visitors
- Simple for residents and tourists: ‘Tap-to-pay’ is universally understood
- Fast, frictionless ticketing and payments: Reduces overall boarding and overall journey times.
- City-wide system: Simplifies multimodal journeys with automatic fare payments
- Payment security: EMV adds an extra layer of security for card transactions
