iSIGN Media Solutions Inc. and its reseller, Smart City Services International (SCSI) announce the launch of a fifty-vehicle pilot deployment of iSIGN's HALO.fx technology, commencing on October 15, 2022 for twelve months. This paid pilot will equip fifty private transit buses operating in Mexico City with the HALO.fx node. Each node will capture occupancy levels, passenger ingress and egress data and gather information from nearby mobile devices.

The information collected will address immediate concerns regarding fare-evasion detection, rider behaviour, route planning, and resource deployment. To a large degree, Mexico and most Latin American countries rely on currency payments by passengers. HALO.fx and PHACT technologies will allow transit companies to independently validate the number of riders and calculate the cash fares collected, resulting in improved ROI and increased data gathering on riders.

The pilot deployment will also be used to evaluate HALO.fx's ability to improve public safety by using object recognition in tandem with the embedded PHACT module, to provide a record of individuals that have been present on the vehicle and trace their routes throughout the monitored spaces. Successful results from the public safety evaluation will provide additional revenue opportunities for iSIGN as this component is an additional paid feature of the HALO.fx platform. Commenting again on the opportunity, Sal Haro stated, "While fare evasion is an immediate concern due to its impact on operator revenue, the long-term benefits provided by the public safety component simply cannot be overstated.

The long-term costs incurred by operators related to incidents of crime, vandalism, and violence, have long-term impacts on rider confidence and attendance, placing negative pressure on revenue that can linger for indeterminate lengths of time." HALO.fx provides unobtrusive monitoring and workflow-based resource deployment features that help mitigate the problems related to incidents of crime, vandalism and violence. This is accomplished in a manner that does not infringe on privacy, collects no personal information, and can be deployed by the operators with no special tools or knowledge required. Technology can also be used for public safety and security alerts and public, tourist and brand advertising to generate additional revenue for transit operators and provide data to advertisers, thus improving ROI and increasing the data being gathered on its passengers.

Adding HALO and HALO.fx technology to SCSI's existing partnership with Payolog, a global payment and Smart City Solutions leader, will increase accountability throughout private and public transit locations, stations and onboard vehicles as a unified network. The new technology introduces loyalty programs and rewards for passengers using public transit through a collaboration between SCSI, Payolog and iSIGN. It is believed that the introduction of a loyalty rewards program combined with cashless ticketing will result in increased ridership levels as well as further increasing the safety of drivers and passengers.