PLAYING THE SMART CARD

Smart or memory? Chip-based cards are currently all the rage in the transport industry. They are not, however, a new idea. Such cards, which are known in some countries as Integrated Circuit (IC) cards, were first patented in France by Roland Moreno in 1974. They are, in effect, micro-computers. The processing and memory capacity varies according to the software specification. Many chip cards are basically disposable memory cards technically speaking a smart card should have its own micro-processor and built-in logic. Pre-paid telephone cards were their first major application. Now, such cards are widely used for banking, access control, health and social services, loyalty schemes, passports and many other single or mixed applications. Cornwall County Council, for example, operates a citizens card called the Cornish Key. This identifies holders as residents of Cornwall and replaces the individual cards for fare-concessions, library-membership, council employees, school meals and car parking. Further services are planned, including a loyalty scheme for bus users. The main force behind the development of card-based systems in the transport sector, has been either a need for integrated, seamless travel within an area (as with the London Travelcard or Scotlands One-Ticket) or for the possibility, as with the Cornish Key, of having a multi-function card that can be used for a variety of applications, of which travel is one.

There are two main types of smart card. The original version has contacts on the surface and must be inserted into a reader. Now contactless cards (which may be of either longrange or proximity types), are becoming popular. They need only be worn near the reader or passed over it and have the advantage that, in principle, they can be kept in the holders wallet and, therefore, do not wear out easily. An intermediate type of card, called MOSAIC (Module On Surface And In Chip), was developed as a means of cutting costs. Combination cards, which have the features of both the contact and the contactless varieties are used for some applications, especially where electronic purses are involved. Such cards may use two separate chips (as is the case with French bank cards) or else a single chip which allows loading and use through either interface. Smart cards may also carry magnetic stripes, as do many credit and debit cards (a further development is being tried in Orlando, Florida where users can tap or wave their contactless cards at a reader and the system automatically transmits the magnetic stripe information when this is needed for a transaction). Just the ticket? The advantages of using electronic ticketing systems, such as smart cards, are that they are easy to use, secure (in terms of transaction and payment safety), reduce fraud, are fast, reliable (few card or terminal errors and failures) and have low maintenance costs. There are several moves towards standardisation and harmonisation of both software and hardware, involving the ISO (International Organisation for Standardisation), CEN (European Committee for Standardisation) and Calypso, as well as nationally (BSI British Standards Institution or ITSO Integrated Transport Smart Card Organisation). Within the industry there are hopes for a single standard, in much the same way as that developed for digital mobile phones: GSM developed by Groupe Systeme Mobile.

A disadvantage of using smart cards for simple applications is their cost. Over-capacity and competition in the industry have brought down prices considerably (a few years ago they could still cost as much as 5 each), but it may still be difficult to justify the expenditure. The high initial cost also means that it is important to keep wastage low, as every lost card adds to the schemes expense. The collectability of chip cards is a contributor to the problem: when the transport authority of Seoul, the South Korean capital, first introduced chip cards the entire issue was taken up by collectors and dealers. Similar problems have occurred in some British cities, such as Bradford and Nottingham.

While enthusiasm amongst transport operators for the introduction of smart-cards is great, it can take far longer than expected for a such a scheme to come to fruition or it may not be realised at all. Germanys national association of transport undertakings (VDV) began testing a rechargeable multifunctional chip card combined with an electronic purse (which stores credit transferred from a bank account to pay for small purchases, such as fares, newspapers, hamburgers or phone calls) back in April 1996. Five cities (Dresden, Frankfurt, Hamburg, Munich and Stuttgart) were involved and it was intended that a common standard would be developed in time for a national roll-out no later than November 1997. However, it is only now that using the system is becoming popular. For example, ASK SA, a major supplier, has recently delivered nearly two million contactless cards to the 54 operators in North-Rhine-Westphalia for, what is claimed to be, Europes largest smart-card transport project. Another major launch, in a blaze of publicity, was Australias first contactless transport scheme which was born after three years gestation. In March 1995 Transcard began a three-month trial on Sydneys buses, trains and taxis prior to its national launch that July in good time for the Sydney Olympics. The scheme was promoted as going one step further than other smart cards as all the cards were anonymous (thereby protecting the users privacy) and combined both ticketing and payment systems. The benefits will be enormous and a boon for transport operators, announced a spokesman for the New South Wales Bus and Coach Association, while the chairman of Cabcharge Australia enthused about its security and simplified payment benefits for taxis. And where is it now? Dead. Australias Federal Court found that the software had infringed another companys patent! More successful, one hopes, will be the major British scheme: Londons Oyster card, developed as a key element of the 1100m. Prestige project to develop a new integrated revenue collection service for Londons buses and Underground. London, the worlds Oyster London trials for a contactless smart card began in the early 1990s, first with some small-scale experiments (for example, on bus route 212 using bus pass-holding volunteers) and, in 1994, in Harrow where a trial covered the whole town and all local operators. Buscom (Finland) supplied off-the-shelf technology coupled with a proximity card. Initially the Harrow cards were issued as smart photo-cards to be checked against a reader each time a passenger boarded a bus. The cards came with magnetic passes for visual checking throughout the rest of the London Transport bus and underground system, although the mechanics of this were not made clear to all staff and passengers. The plan was to extend the trial with a transferable stored-value Farecard sold for an initial value of 10, rechargeable either at newsagents or on buses in Harrow.

Oyster, itself, opened at the end of 2002, initially for London Undergrounds 80,000 staff and their families. The scheme is the product of a 17-year Private Finance Initiative (PFI) for Transys, a consortium of EDS (for management/operations), Cubic Transportation Systems (AFC Infrastructure), Fujitsu Services (retailing and IT development) and W.S. Atkins (transport consultants). The major partners are EDS and Cubic (the Cubic Corporation has for long had contracts to supply ticket-vending machines and gates to London Underground and to run much of the AFC system). It is hoped that eventually Oyster will become a multi-function card with a wide range of applications added. Oyster has been financed, designed, manufactured and installed by Transys. The system is based on a contactless proximity smart card (produced by Giesecke & Devrient and Schlumbergersema) which incorporates Philips Mifare software. While such cards can be read within a range of 1.0" to 3.9" (2.5 to 10 cm), Oyster is at the lower-end of the scale. Technology similar to RFID is used an electro-magnetic field that modulates the power between two antennae. Although Oyster is generally described as a smart-card it is technically a memory card as it has a limited capacity to store information (1KB of memory and no processor), has only a single application and is dependent on the card reader for data manipulation. It is anticipated that 2-3 million cards will be in use by the end of the first year of operation although, initially, they were available to internet and telephone applicants only. Since the autumn, monthly, quarterly and annual season-ticket holders have been able to get Oyster cards from booking offices and shops. Towards the end of 2003, Oyster will be extended to less-frequent passengers with a decrementing stored-value card for occasional travellers (loaded with from 5 to 100 value) and in about two years it is expected that a tourist card will also be available. According to Dick Hall, London Buses Strategy Director, the present plan is that by 2005 Londons transport will be cashless although, as recently as November 2002 Martin Howell, the Chief Executive of Transys, claimed that magnetic stripe cards would be available for a large proportion of customers for the foreseeable future. All Oyster cards are pre-paid (i.e. payment must be made before the card can be used). Stored-value cards will have unlimited validity and, like weekly-seasons, will require a 3 refundable deposit.

When the holder of a stored-value card enters the Underground, the cards value will be transferred to the system and re-credited on passing through an exit gate (with the exception of the few interchanges, such as Kings Cross and Stratford, which require passengers to pass through both outward and inward gates). If a passenger fails to tap the card against the reader on leaving the system, a basic fare of 5 will be deducted (it is easy to miss the card readers, as stations are required to have the gates open when insufficient staff are available to man them). Unlike Hong Kongs Octopus Card, for example, the London ticket gates give no read-out of the remaining balance or validity of an Oyster card. It is hard, therefore, for a user to verify that the correct fare has been deducted: some wall-mounted add-value machines do allow balance verification. However, the user must know how to do this. The procedure takes time and delays other passengers; checking machines located near to platforms would help). Holders of stored-value cards will have the option of registering their details so that, if the card is lost, any remaining travel value can be credited to a new card and the old one can then be blocked from further usage. If credit card or bank details are supplied, cardholders will be able to receive automatic renewals or top-ups, either on the basis of continuous authorisation or when the remaining value falls below 5 by tapping the card on a reader at a nominated station. Once authorisation has been received from the registered bank or credit card company, the card will have been re-valued in time for the next journey. Nicole Carroll, marketing director of Transys, claims that mobile phone payments will be available from early 2004. She is currently testing the possibilities with her own Nokia 3310 hand-set (the most common pay-as-you-go phone) and expects Oyster payments to be available through an integrated contactless SIM card. Once Oyster is fully-operational, daily usage is expected to exceed five-million transactions and all transport in London should be cashless (though how people who travel infrequently will be catered for is not, yet, known). Transport For London hopes the card will be such a success that it is currently in discussions with the train operating companies about integrating Oyster within a national rail smart-card scheme. Whether these expectations will actually be met depends on how reliable the system is. The Mifare chips in Oyster cards are based on relatively old technology (dating from the mid-nineties) and are, in effect, available from only a single source Philips Electronics (a more secure version of Mifare has been developed, but it is considered too sophisticated and costly for transport ticketing applications). Critics claim that it is risky for such a large project to depend on one suppliers proprietary software which will probably need replacement after, perhaps, five or six years. Security may also be an issue. One of Oysters key selling points is its ability to speed passage through ticket gates and cut bus boarding times.

For Martin Howell of Transys, getting users to accept, and feel happy with, Oyster is down to the three Es: evaluate (needs, expectations and planned deliverables), educate (the users) and execute get it right the first time, on time, every time. Sounds good. But, perhaps a lesson can be learnt from Singapore, Asias intelligent island, where much effort went into explaining their smart card to the public. Here, the difficulty of making short-term assessments was ably demonstrated. Singapores contactless stored value Ez-link card was introduced in early 2002. Ez-link is a multi-function card with separate entry and exit processing. As in London, the launch was staggered through the different categories of user. Yet, Silvester Prakasham, GeneralManager of Ez-link, had a heart-stopping experience on the launch day: the Transport Minister was to be the first to test the system but, faced with a software failure, the event had to be postponed. After that, the public service developed smoothly until the final group of users had been issued with their cards. That was the real test of the system and when all the problems appeared. London has committed 200m. to the Prestige project over 17 years and the world is watching. Ralph Adam September 2003.