Skip to main content

RIPTA partners with Init for electronic fare management project

The Rhode Island Public Transportation Authority (RIPTA) has selected Init Innovations in Transportation (Init) to implement an account-based electronic fare and back-office revenue management system on their fixed route fleet of over 240 buses. The technology is designed with the intention of allowing passengers to board faster and have more convenient fare options. Additionally, RIPTA hopes to eventually transition most of its fare transactions to mobile, retail, web and agency-internal e-fare smartcar
February 8, 2018 Read time: 2 mins
The Rhode Island Public Transportation Authority (RIPTA) has selected Init Innovations in Transportation (511 Init) to implement an account-based electronic fare and back-office revenue management system on their fixed route fleet of over 240 buses. The technology is designed with the intention of allowing passengers to board faster and have more convenient fare options.


Additionally, RIPTA hopes to eventually transition most of its fare transactions to mobile, retail, web and agency-internal e-fare smartcards which will allow them to utilize closed-loop and open payment options.

Once completed, passengers will be able to pay for fares by tapping their card or mobile device on a validator. Mobilevario, Init’s back-end processing software, will calculate and validate the transaction against the account and display the remaining balance in real-time.

Init will implement its open architecture for the project to help RIPTA integrate its new and existing partners more easily.

The contract includes EMV-capable e-fare validators, the integration of a Byemark mobile ticketing app and the option to implement platform validators and ticket vending machines in future phases of RIPTA’s fare collection upgrade.

Amy Pettine, Interim CEO of RIPTA, said: “RIPTA is excited to bring this innovative system to our riders. This update will not only make it easier for riders to manage their fares, but it will also speed up boarding times and cut back on the time people have to spend counting coins and bills. Fare products will be available at the touch of the fingertip.”

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • New York to pump $51.5bn into transit
    September 25, 2019
    New York’s Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) has proposed investing $51.5 billion in the city’s subways, buses and railroads over the next five years. Janno Lieber, MTA chief development officer, says: “The proposed capital programme will be truly transformational – more trains, more buses, more service, more accessibility and more reliability.” The 2020-2024 Capital Plan would put $40bn into the city’s subways and buses and $6.1bn for 1,900 new subway cars to help mitigate delays. MTA also wa
  • First ScotRail unveils smartcard plan
    January 9, 2013
    In the UK, rail operator First ScotRail plans to install 140 smartcard validation machines across seventy of the 350 stations in Scotland, focusing on the Aberdeen, Stirling and Strathclyde areas. The technology was installed in twenty-seven stations at the end of 2012, and should be implemented in the remaining stations in the next three months. Building on a pilot scheme for annual season-ticket holders that has been running between Edinburgh and Glasgow on the line through Falkirk since 2011, the move wi
  • Electronic vehicle registration ensures payment
    February 2, 2012
    Like most countries, Bermuda recognised that it was losing revenue through non-compliance with vehicle registration regulations and was equally concerned about vehicles that were not properly insured or put through annual inspections. Indeed, the tiny island state, with a population of around 65,000 people and some 30,000 vehicles, estimated it was losing more than US$1.4 million per year in tax-based revenue since approximately 8 per cent of vehicle owners were cheating the system.
  • New Mersey crossing ends Halton’s congestion misery
    December 5, 2017
    Plagued by intolerable congestion but denied government funding for its solution, tiny Halton Borough Council relentlessly pursued its vision and achieved what many believed impossible. Halton may be a small local authority in north west England, but it had a big traffic problem. However, as the road, or more particularly the bridge, involved was not deemed a strategic route, central government would not commission or even fund a solution - a problem that many other local authorities will recognise.