Case Study – Development of RFID Wristband and Tracking System for Saudi Arabia’s Government

Vision Skill Consulting was invited by Saudi Arabia’s government organisation to provide a solution to manage pilgrims who travel to holy sites in Mecca by metro during Hajj, one of the most crowded religious gatherings for Muslims. At peak hours, over 70,000 pilgrims used the metro to travel between holy sites such as Masjid al Haram, Mount Arafat, Jamarat and Mina to perform their rituals. RFID represents an ideal solution for crowd management and tracking.

To avoid ticket fraud and speed up entry points, pilgrims who travelled by metro were issued a train ticket in the form of a RFID wristband. Tickets were divided into different categories, with a colour assigned to each for easy identification. Electronic Ticket Sensors were installed at the entrances of each station to check the validity of the passengers’ wristband. The metro station staffs were also equipped with a handheld wristband checker to manually verify the validity of the wristband whenever required.

The Electronic Ticket Sensors sent real-time data to control centre which allowed controllers and government authorities to monitor the usage of the metro system and execute crowd control arrangements.

Involvement of Vision Skill

• Designed, produced and implemented the RFID wristband and tracking system
• Handheld wristband checker end-user training and training management