Case Studies: Fare Logistics Corp.
Victoria, British Columbia, Canada
Fare Logistics provides advanced fare collections systems to transit authorities throughout Canada and the United States. By providing an easy-to-use yet sophisticated turn-key solution, Fare Logistics enables municipalities to improve the rider experience and offer advanced payment options, and use collected data for ridership and revenue reporting.
Since the requirements of a fare collection system widely differ from municipality to municipality, it is essential that Fare Logistics deliver price-competitive, user-friendly solutions that can be readily adapted to the particular needs of each transit authority.
Fare Logistics’ current product implemented technical solutions that locked them into a situation that was not compatible with their long-term product roadmap; they needed to be moving to a lower cost embedded systems without compromising stability or processing power.
The requirements were ambitious: Inbiza needed to work with the existing hardware and operating system (Windows CE 5) yet allow for a seamless transition to an embedded Linux solution when the time was right. Additionally, Inbiza had to write bulletproof business logic and deliver an application that doesn't crash; system down time meant lost revenue and both operator and passenger frustration. All this and more had to be completed in just four months.
Inbiza’s solution was bold and stemmed from the creativity of its directors, who skillfully blended design concepts from AuxFS and the Mozilla framework. Inbiza implemented the low-level hardware control mechanics for twelve devices in Qt C++ because it was fast, efficient, and Qt offered advanced tools and techniques that greatly simplified the process. The devices were then exposed to a JavaScript engine, where the business logic was implemented. The user interface (UI) was designed using the drag-and-drop Qt Designer and the look and feel was customized through cascading style sheets (CSS).
The result was a project manager’s and a client’s dream come true: A solution that met all of the requirements and was delivered on time and on budget. We have yet to see this system crash while in production operation. The initial end user client feedback best describes the product:
“ The applications have been well designed and really have drivers and passengers in mind.
… “intuitive”, “easy”, and “logical”.
Tamara Sears
Fare Logistics Corp.