Design and Performance Evaluation of an IoT-Enabled RFID Smart Ticketing System Using REST-Based Middleware and Real-Time Dashboard

Abstract

The Conventional ticketing systems in the public transport are manual validation and paper based, which adds delays in operations and lack of real time tracking. This paper shows the design and the performance analysis of an RFID smart ticketing architecture based on the IoT using an end-toend communication pipeline. The system proposed is based on RFID readers and an Arduino-based edge node, a Python middleware layer to structure data processing, REST-based Node.js backend services, and MySQL database storage and real-time dashboard visualization. Upon successful RFID validation, the edge node triggers a door actuation mechanism (servo/relay) to enable controlled entry and exit at the bus gates. In contrast to the traditional RFID fare collection system, in which the main emphasis is placed on the identification, the proposed framework prioritizes the data communication with low latency, middleware verification, and scalable processing of the backend. Under continuous RFID scanning, experimental analysis indicates an average end-to-end latency of 160 ms and 100% transaction logging. The results indicate that the proposed architecture provides a robust, scalable, and costefficient solution suitable for medium-scale public transportation environments.