SMART TOOL TO PROTECT PUBLIC TRANSPORT REVENUES, ASSETS, PASSENGERS AND MOBILITY

Project Information

TRAINSFARE

Grant agreement ID: 767807

DOI 10.3030/767807

Project closed

EC signature date 19 April 2017

Start date 1 May 2017

End date 31 October 2020

Funded under

• SOCIETAL CHALLENGES - Smart, Green And Integrated Transport

Total cost € 1 585 883,75

EU contribution € 1 110 118,63

Coordinated by

AWAAIT ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE SL
Spain

Project description

The battle against fare evasion begins

With a shocking EUR 2.9 billion lost annually in Europe due to fare evasion, the battle against this widespread problem has reached a critical point. Random ticket inspections have proven futile, causing inconvenience for honest passengers, while sly culprits continue to exploit the system. Enter the EU-funded TRAINSFARE project, set to revolutionise the game. Answering the plea from Barcelona’s FGC metro and commuter train operator, TRAINSFARE proposes DETECTOR. This precision tool leverages the transport network’s geometry to expose fraud at barriers. Equipped with real-time alerts sent directly to ticket inspectors through a mobile app, DETECTOR confronts fare evasion head-on. Furthermore, it possesses the ability to identify acts of vandalism and unattended baggage and even analyse passenger behaviour.

Objective

TRAINSFARE’s main objective is to help reduce fare evasion on public transport, which causes revenue losses in excess of €2.9bn/year in Europe alone.

To tackle fare evasion public transport operators use random ticket inspections with variable success. This method inconveniently disrupts the natural flow of paying passengers, while fare dodgers all too often find ways to elude spot checks. Therefore, harnessing the geometry of their networks, many metro and commuter train operators (MTOs) have installed fare gates (or ticket barriers) at access/exit points. However, even with fare gates, fraud rates are typically 2-7% of passengers, rising to double digits on some networks.

At the request of FGC (an innovative MTO in Barcelona that could not find an adequate system on the market to step up fraud prevention), we developed DETECTOR, a highly precise and effective support tool that detects fraud at barriers and alerts ticket inspectors in real time via a mobile app so that they can act immediately.

Because the DETECTOR system uses video streams, it can also be used to detect vandalism, unattended baggage, equipment malfunction and behavioural analysis based on passenger trajectories. Our patent pending methodologies have enabled DETECTOR to resolve issues that previously limited the effectiveness of video analytics such as shadows, reflections, occlusions and variable sunlight exposure.

DETECTOR 1.0 has been tested and approved by FGC, is successfully operating in four of FGC’s main stations and further rollout is planned. Tests have also been agreed with other European MTOs.

The UITP (International Association for Public Transport) also recognised DETECTOR’s innovative approach when it was nominated as a global finalist for the Operational and Technical Excellence Award (Milan 2015).

With a feasibility plan developed under a SMEInst Phase 1 grant, TRAINSFARE is now seeking Phase 2 support to scale up and market replicate the system.

Fields of science

CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques.

• natural sciences › computer and information sciences › artificial intelligence
• engineering and technology › civil engineering › urban engineering › smart cities
• engineering and technology › electrical engineering, electronic engineering, information engineering › electronic engineering › sensors › optical sensors
• engineering and technology › electrical engineering, electronic engineering, information engineering › information engineering › telecommunications › mobile phones
• social sciences › social geography › transport › public transport

Programme(s)

• H2020-EU.3.4. - SOCIETAL CHALLENGES - Smart, Green And Integrated Transport Main Programme
• H2020-EU.2.1.1. - INDUSTRIAL LEADERSHIP - Leadership in enabling and industrial technologies - Information and Communication Technologies (ICT)
• H2020-EU.2.3.1. - Mainstreaming SME support, especially through a dedicated instrument

Topic(s)

• SMEInst-10-2016-2017 - Small business innovation research for Transport and Smart Cities Mobility

Call for proposal

H2020-SMEInst-2016-2017

See other projects for this call

Sub call

H2020-SMEINST-2-2016-2017

Funding Scheme

SME-2 - SME instrument phase 2

Coordinator

AWAAIT ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE SL

• Net EU contribution: € 728 703,50
• Address: AVENIDA DIAGONAL NUM 601, PISO 8A ; 08028 BARCELONA ; Spain
• SME The organization defined itself as SME (small and medium-sized enterprise) at the time the Grant Agreement was signed. Yes:
  Region
  Este › Cataluña › Barcelona
• Region: Este › Cataluña › Barcelona
• Activity type: Private for-profit entities (excluding Higher or Secondary Education Establishments)
• Total cost: € 1 585 883,75

Participants (1)

Third-party

Legal entity other than a subcontractor which is affiliated or legally linked to a participant. The entity carries out work under the conditions laid down in the Grant Agreement, supplies goods or provides services for the action, but did not sign the Grant Agreement. A third party abides by the rules applicable to its related participant under the Grant Agreement with regard to eligibility of costs and control of expenditure.

HOLDING ASSESSORIA I LIDERATGE SL

Spain

• Net EU contribution: € 381 415,13
• Address: CARRER ROSSELLO 72 P 2 PTA 1 ; 08029 BARCELONA
• SME The organization defined itself as SME (small and medium-sized enterprise) at the time the Grant Agreement was signed. Yes:
  Region
  Este › Cataluña › Barcelona
• Region: Este › Cataluña › Barcelona
• Activity type: Private for-profit entities (excluding Higher or Secondary Education Establishments)
• Total cost: € 544 878,75