fara.no

What It Is

FARA is a Norway-based provider of intelligent public transport systems, positioned around the idea of “Making Travel Easy.” Its products cover account-based ticketing, contactless EMV payments, real-time passenger information, onboard systems, and operations monitoring. It primarily serves bus, rail, and ferry operators, as well as public transport authorities. The company has a long history in the sector and has offices in Norway, Denmark, Finland, Sweden, and Poland.

Core Capabilities

In terms of product breadth, FARA is not a general-purpose SaaS platform, but an industry-grade platform built for public transport. On the ticketing side, it includes ABT, cEMV, driver ticket sales, PoS, handheld sales, ticket inspection, and passenger self-service via “My Pages.” ABT supports media such as mobile phones, smartwatches, tags, and travel cards, with back-office fare calculation, fare capping, and best-price calculation based on trip count, distance, and time windows. cEMV supports tap-to-ride with bank cards, phones, and wearables, and processes transactions under Mastercard and Visa public transport frameworks.

Integration, Permissions, and Hardware

One of its clear strengths is compatibility with Nordic ticketing standards. The official website specifically mentions integration with Norway’s Entur API, Sweden’s BoB standard, and the National Ticketing Standard API. For onboard use, FARA provides FLV+ validators supporting MIFARE and Calypso smart cards, as well as 2D codes such as QR, Aztec, and Data Matrix. The hardware also supports PoE, Ethernet/USB, and OTA software updates. On the permissions side, the customer service application controls functionality based on the logged-in user’s role, while driver, ticket seller, and inspector applications also include operational controls such as login, locking, and shift settlement.

Pricing and Limitations

The official website does not disclose packages, pricing, implementation timelines, SLAs, free trials, or security and compliance certifications. It only states that solutions can be tailored to organizational needs, integrated with existing systems, or deployed independently. For large public transport projects, this level of customization is understandable, but it also means buyers need to obtain total cost of ownership, operations and maintenance responsibilities, data hosting location, and compliance documentation through tenders or sales discussions.

Best Fit and Access from China

FARA is best suited to integrated transport organizations that need account-based ticketing, contactless bank card travel, onboard validation, and real-time passenger information—especially in the Nordic region or markets using similar ticketing standards. It is not suitable for general enterprise collaboration, CRM, or finance SaaS needs. There is no official evidence regarding access from China, so this remains unknown. In addition, its payment and ticketing standards mainly revolve around Visa/Mastercard, Entur, and BoB. Projects in China would typically also need to evaluate support for UnionPay, city transit cards, Alipay/WeChat Pay, and local public transport standards. International alternatives include Cubic, Masabi, INIT, and Trapeze, while domestic projects should also consider local smart bus and urban transport payment system providers.