A Distributed Integrated Fare Collection and Accounting System for Metropolitan Railway Transit

In the real world applications, the most widely used simple-and-small smart device is most likely the ticket of the metropolitan railway transit (MRT). Behind this simple-and-small device, IC-card or RFID token, very large and complicated system is required to facilitate such a smart device. MRT is typically of a distributed environment. MRT´s primary purpose is transporting massive passengers, and thus, employs huge volume of distributed fare collections. Development (i.e., scale) of a MRT takes decades to mature, and due to different passes (tickets) may be offered for various travel needs, legacy systems may coexist for certain periods of time, and multiple fare collection methods may be utilized, such that integration of versatile vendors and applications becomes necessary. This paper presents a successful implementation of a web-based distributed integrated fare collection and accounting (IFCA) system in Taipei Rapid Transit Corporation. Such an IFCA system contains more than 1,200 program modules with million lines of source code. The architectural and engineering, as well as management and maintenance, issues will be addressed. The IFCA system replicates application programs and databases for each train station. It is proven robust, scalable, and lower cost. It may be served as a reference model for the existing and currently under building MRTs.