Home Features Who it's for On the phone Security Plans Talk to us

Boarding by face at the vehicle door

The helper's or driver's phone recognises the rider at the door and marks them boarded, then dropped, on today's run, also without mobile signal. Only riders with consent (a parent's for a child) who were enrolled by the transport office are recognised, and no photo is kept.

PLANSScale only

Built and tested on our test systems. The Crew and Rider apps have not been run on a phone and are not in the app stores yet. Accuracy has not been measured on a bus. Try it on one route before you rely on it.

Compare plans How it works

Why it matters

Children forget or swap boarding cards, and a helper with 40 children at a crowded stop has no time to find each name. The phone at the door recognises each rider and marks them boarded, then dropped, also where there is no mobile signal. Only riders whose parents agreed, and whom the office enrolled, are recognised, and no photo is kept.

The problem it solves

Children forget or swap their boarding cards, so the bus list is wrong.
A helper with 40 children at a crowded stop has no time to find each name on a list.
Mobile signal drops on the route, and marking by button stops working.
Parents worry about face data: who holds it, for what, and how to take it back.

How it works

The transport office asks parents for consent. A parent reads the notice in the SmartMy Transit Rider app and gives consent. Or the parent signs a paper form, and the office records it with Record Paper Consent.
Office staff with Transport Face Office open Faces in the Crew app. They take three to five guided photos of each rider with consent. The phone turns them into a list of numbers (a face template) and sends only that; the photos are deleted at once.
Before the run, the helper opens it and presses Board by face. The phone loads the templates of today's riders of this vehicle who have consent and are enrolled. It keeps them in encrypted storage.
At the door the rider looks at the phone and blinks. The phone matches the face on the device, shows the name, and boards an expected rider or drops a rider already on board. Parents get the usual Boarded and Dropped messages.
Without signal the phone keeps matching and sends the marks when it is back online. A face not recognised falls back to Scan card or the Board button.
When the run ends the phone stops holding the riders from its next sync; signing out drops them at once.

Everything it does

Consent

Per use: the consent is for Bus Boarding only, with its own notice; your Entity may write its own version of the notice
A rider with a parent or guardian among the people told about them counts as under age, so the parent or guardian consents. A rider without one (staff, college students) consents for themself
Given in the Rider app (Face page, with Everything I agreed to), or on paper recorded by the office with the scan
Consent state on the rider: Not Asked, Asked, Given or Withdrawn
Withdrawing in the Rider app or at the office deletes the template at once; phones drop it at their next sync
Without consent the server refuses a template and the phone does not start enrolment

Enrolment

Only by the transport office (group Transport Face Office, given with Fleet Administrator), in the Crew app; the web cannot enrol
Three to five guided photos (straight, a little left, a little right), each checked for one face, size, open eyes, sharpness and light
Only the averaged template is sent; no photo is kept on the phone or the server
A new face that looks like someone already enrolled is refused, which also catches enrolling the wrong child
Remove Face Data on the rider form deletes the face; the consent lines stay

Matching on the phone

The crew phone becomes the crew member's face device the first time Board by face is used
It holds only the consenting, enrolled riders of its vehicle's runs today who are not marked Not Riding; never the rest
Templates sit in encrypted storage and are wiped on sign out, when the server blocks the device, or after 7 days without a sync
A blink check before each match stops a printed photo or a still photo on a phone. It does not stop a video played on a screen
Match threshold 0.363 and a lead of 0.05 over the next person, by default. Closer than that is Too Close to Call and falls back to the card
A match boards an expected rider and drops a rider on board, on the vehicle's running run
Matches made without signal are queued and sent later, each once
Faces are found in the picture by Google ML Kit on the device. The picture never leaves the phone, but ML Kit sends Google usage figures (the notice says so)

Records

Each rider line of a run keeps the face match that boarded or dropped it
Face Recognition > Reporting > Match Log: every recognition with when, which phone and the run it marked
Face Recognition > Devices: each crew phone with its crew member and the run being served
The template and the match log are kept until the rider stops using transport or your Entity sets a period. Nothing is deleted on its own by default
An archived rider leaves Bus Boarding; the face goes when no consent in any product is left

Who uses it

Parent or guardianReads the notice and gives or withdraws consent in the Rider app, or signs the paper form.

Transport office (Transport Face Office)Enrols riders' faces in the Crew app, records paper consents and removes face data.

Helper or driverOpens Board by face on the run and lets each rider look at the phone at the door.

Rider over 18 without a parent recordedGives or withdraws their own consent in the Rider app.

Where you use it

The SmartMy Transit Crew app: Board by face on a run, and Faces for the office's enrolment. It is built, but never run on a phone yet, and not in the app stores
The SmartMy Transit Rider app: the Face page for consent and withdrawal (built; never run on a phone yet, not in the app stores)
Web: the rider form (Face Consent, Record Paper Consent, Face Enrolled, Remove Face Data) and the Face Recognition menu (Consents, Enrolled Faces, Devices, Match Log)
Not on cameras fixed in the bus: recognition runs on the crew's own phone
Not on the My transport web page: consent is given in the Rider app or on paper

What you control

Settings

The Bus Boarding consent notice: a plain default text, which your Entity can change (a new version)
Match threshold, lead over the next person and liveness check (Blink, or Blink and Head Turn) per purpose or per phone; Blink to start with
Adult from: 18 years on the purpose; for riders, under age means a parent or guardian is recorded
Most faces a phone holds: 2,000 to start with
How long templates and the match log are kept: never deleted on their own by default

Notifications

Face Consent Asked, Given and Withdrawn: to the person or parent and to the face office. In the app, by email and as a phone notification
Face Enrolled and Face Removed: to the person or parent, same channels
Face Device Not Synced and Many Failed Face Matches: to the face office
Rider Boarded and Rider Dropped: the usual boarding messages to parents (Growth and up)

Questions

Is a photo of my child kept?

No. The office takes three to five photos when enrolling, the phone turns them into a list of numbers and deletes the photos at once. Only that template is kept, and nobody can view or download it.

Does it need mobile signal on the bus?

No. The phone loads the riders' templates before the run and matches on the phone. Marks made without signal are sent when the phone is back online.

What if a parent says no?

The child is not enrolled and is not recognised. The helper boards them by scanning the card or pressing Board, as before.

Can a parent change their mind?

Yes. Withdraw in the Rider app or at the transport office. The template is deleted at once and crew phones drop it at their next sync.

Do we need special cameras?

No. It runs on the helper's or driver's phone in the Crew app. Fixed cameras in the bus are not supported.

Can someone fool it with a photo?

A blink check stops a printed photo or a still photo on a phone. A video on a screen or a close look-alike can pass. That is why the helper at the door sees the name of each match.

Related features

BOARDINGBoarded, dropped and absent, with a QR cardThe driver or helper marks each rider Boarded, Dropped or Absent on today's run, by a button or by scanning the rider's boarding card. When the run ends, anyone never marked is Missed, so you know for each child whether they rode.PHONE APPSThe Crew app for drivers and helpersSmartMy Transit Crew puts the driver's and helper's day on their phone: today's runs, start and end. It shows each stop with its riders, boarded, dropped and absent, and the boarding card scan. With higher plans the phone also tracks the vehicle, carries an SOS button, the trip checklist, fuel, breakdowns and boarding by face.PHONE APPSThe Rider app for riders and parentsSmartMy Transit Rider shows riders and parents today's rides, the stop time, the rider's state and past rides. They can also say "not riding". From Growth the bus moves on a map with the expected time at your stop.MESSAGES TO RIDERS AND PARENTSParents told when the bus starts, nears the stop and the child boardsRiders and parents hear when the run starts, when the bus is a few minutes away and when it reaches the stop. Then they hear when the rider boards, is dropped or misses the bus. Delays, a change of vehicle or driver and a cancelled run are told too, the moment they happen.DAILY RUNSDaily runs planned by themselvesEvery route gets its run for today and the coming days by itself: vehicle, crew, stops, times and that day's riders. The driver starts it, each stop records the delay, and the run ends or is cancelled.

See your own routes on the map.

Send us your stops and routes and we will show you a demo with them.

Talk to us Compare plans