Innovatrics, Chile-based systems integrator RSA, and Santiago’s Metropolitan Public Transport Directorate (DTPM) are expanding a facial recognition pilot for bus boarding and fare validation on the city’s Red Movilidad public transit network, one of the largest urban bus systems in South America.
The pilot, currently operating on five buses along route 406 operated by Metbus, uses Innovatrics’ facial recognition engine to authenticate passengers at the point of boarding. The deployment is now scaling from five to 10 buses, with a full rollout across the broader Red Movilidad network projected for the second half of 2026.
“The goal is a seamless, secure, and efficient experience where your face becomes your ticket,” Enrique Sepúlveda, General Manager of RSA, said in a statement.
The system achieves a 98 percent accuracy rate and is designed to function reliably in challenging conditions including low light, fog, and situations where passengers are wearing hats or glasses. At boarding, the technology matches a passenger’s face against enrolled profiles to validate fare payment status and verify benefit eligibility in real time, replacing manual inspections that slow the boarding process during peak hours.
Santiago’s Red bus network has faced a persistent fare evasion problem, with the rate reaching 38.2 percent across the system. The biometric boarding solution is intended to reduce that revenue loss by confirming that each passenger holds a valid fare or subsidy entitlement. It also detects fraudulent use of subsidized transit benefits designated for specific demographic groups, including students and senior citizens, where benefit abuse has been a recurring concern for Chilean transit authorities.
Beyond fare enforcement, the pilot includes a security screening component that cross-references passenger faces against a database of individuals with active arrest warrants. The system alerts authorities discreetly without disrupting the boarding flow for other passengers, adding a public safety dimension to what is primarily a revenue protection deployment.
The expansion follows a broader pattern of transit agencies exploring facial recognition for both operational efficiency and security, though such programs have drawn scrutiny from civil liberties organizations in multiple jurisdictions. In New York, legislators banned biometric fare payments on the MTA in 2024, highlighting the political sensitivity surrounding biometric deployment in public transport systems.
Sources: Innovatrics
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By the ID Tech Editorial Team
