Almost all contracts for fare collection equipment now require some form of networked monitoring and control of ticket vending machines, fare gates, and other equipment delivered as part of the fare collection system.
Many contracts also require electronic payment support for credit and debit card purchases.
These requirements demand that fare collection devices connect to other devices and to one or more computer systems. All current providers of fare collection technology use custom and proprietary methods of data communications to connect to the devices delivered to the customer as part of a fare collection system. These methods are often poorly documented, if documented at all. No two companies in this industry use the same methods of connection, and connection methods often differ for a single company from project to project. This incompatibility from company to company, and from project to project, makes support of fare collection systems expensive and difficult, and also creates significant problems when a transit property wishes to mix fare collection equipment from different suppliers.