This has been the norm in Asia for decades and they were very successful with it and they managed to figure this out long before contactless cards were the norm.

In fact, it even changed the game to make mass transit agencies into mass transit corporations because of the revenues they made actually turned into profit. Said profits were then used to further enhance services than being reliant on government subsidies and taxes to keep them afloat.

One thing however that caught my attention is the use of GPS devices to track distance data. Asian buses were on the distance fare scheme long before GPS devices the norm. They made it simple: use the odometer of the bus. Same thing like the fare meter hooked up to the odometer on the taxi: odometer of the bus reads 89000 mi on tap in, odometer of the bus read 89005 mi on tap out, passenger traveled 5 miles.

This approach would be a simpler and perhaps a more cost effective way of doing than the GPS. Furthermore, it would also help in places where GPS devices can’t be used (i.e. skyscrapers in NYC blocking GPS signals, tunnels in Boston that can’t receive GPS signals, etc.)