Leon CaldwellChief Product Officer · Essays & perspective

Leon Caldwell / Chief Product Officer

Three positions on fare systems for public agencies

Perspectives from a life in leadership.

The latest essay

Reliability in cold climates5 min read

Specify the fare system for the coldest morning of the year

Agencies choose fare systems after demonstrations held indoors on good days. The specification that matters describes what the system does when the network drops, the reader is frozen and a driver has seconds to decide whether to wave a rider on.

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The archive.

Reliability in cold climates

  1. Reliability in cold climates5 min read

    Specify the fare system for the coldest morning of the year

    Agencies choose fare systems after demonstrations held indoors on good days. The specification that matters describes what the system does when the network drops, the reader is frozen and a driver has seconds to decide whether to wave a rider on.

    Open essay

Pricing for public agencies

  1. Pricing for public agencies5 min read

    Never take a percentage of the fare

    Many fare-system vendors are paid a share of the fares they process. That gives the vendor a financial stake in fare policy, and it is a stake no agency should have to negotiate around.

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Location data and privacy

  1. Location data and privacy5 min read

    A tap history is a travel diary, so keep it for weeks

    Account-based fare systems record where and when an identifiable person boarded, often for years. Most of the value of that record expires within weeks while the risk does not, so retention should be short by default and long only by a public decision.

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