Smart cards are anticipated to be the next generation in public transport ticketing systems. What are the obstacles faced in implementing smart cards and how do public transit authorities hope to avoid them?
Despite the number of commuters that purchase periodical tickets, the bulk of public transport revenue comes from short trip or daily tickets, which means handling a huge quantity of coins and small notes--on a typical weekday, over $1 million in coin is accepted by Melbourne's transport system, and probably twice as much in Sydney (a million one-dollar coins, for example, weigh about 10 tons). Handling and reconciling this much cash is an expensive business, which is why operators around the world are switching to off-network ticketing at newsagents, convenience stores, and so on. Such arrangements do not require smart cards, but loading value into a card is a simpler process than selling specific tickets.
Magnetic stripe tickets are commonplace, but the mechanical nature of the equipment needed to read and write the data means they are expensive to build and maintain. A contactless smart card reader needs no moving parts because the card does not have to be inserted into the reader, only brought close to it.
Australian governments typically have a 10-15 year purchasing cycle for public transport ticketing systems, and the move from magnetic stripe to smart cards is underway. Sydney and Brisbane are currently leading the pack, but since Perth is smaller it may be able to fully implement a new system more quickly. Melbourne's current magnetic stripe, multi-mode ticketing contract has several years to run, but the Victorian government has indicated the future is in smart card technology.
The primary focus of New South Wales' project is the successful implementation of a one-card ticketing system for transit services (bus, train, ferry, and monorail) across the Greater Sydney metropolitan region.
Flexibility
Ticketing used to be no more than a mechanism for collecting passengers' fares and providing proof of payment. Where multi-mode ticketing is in effect and public transport services are contracted out, it is important to obtain accurate trip information so each operator is credited appropriately. This isn't difficult where passengers are used to passing through gates (eg, at train stations and ferry terminals), but it has proved problematic on buses and trams. The hope is that contactless smart cards will make the process sufficiently easy for passengers that they will cooperate more readily. Multi-mode ticketing is a major convenience for passengers, but it requires the right systems support to be operationally successful (ie, to ensure transport operators are paid correctly).
| -On a typical weekday, over $1 million in coin is accepted by Melbourne's transport system, and probably twice as much in Sydney." |
Since a smart card acts as an electronic purse, it provides flexibility and convenience for the passenger as well as the operator and transport authority. Consider a school student who is taken to school each morning in his or her mother's car, but makes the return journey by bus. A periodic ticket is normally inappropriate for one-way journeys, but a smart card removes the need to carry cash and purchase a ticket every day.
Interoperability
Australia's transport ministers have agreed to work towards smart card interoperability for use in conjunction with public transport and road tolls.
In the UK, national and local governments have backed ITSO (Integrated Transport Smartcard Organisation), a body formed by public transport operators to build and maintain a specification for secure end-to-end interoperable ticketing transactions. The vision is that passengers will be able to use a single smart card anywhere in the country.
This model is important in the UK, where it is not unusual for commuter journeys to involve multiple operators and authorities. For example, someone living in Oxford might take a bus to the station (run by a private operator but possibly with a subsidy from the county council), a main line train (run by either of two private operators under the overall control of the national government) to London, and the Underground (which soon will be under the control of Transport for London, a body appointed by the Mayor of London) to the final destination.
Australia's geography and political structure is very different, and most commuter trips come under a single state authority, although multiple transport operators may be involved. Consequently, the interoperability vision focuses more on the facilitation of equipment purchases and back-office functions such as loading value into the cards at banks and Australia Post outlets.
It is also possible for transport smart cards to be used for retail purposes, but the main objectives are to improve the convenience and ease of use for passengers.
A committee has been working on interoperability issues for about 18 months, and Standards Australia is now involved. A memorandum of understanding between governments and the private players is expected soon.
Security, privacy, and fraud
It's important to cultivate public confidence in public transport ticketing, as the furore over Melbourne's Met Card system has shown. Fare evasion was reportedly rife, passengers who had paid their fares showed some reluctance to validate their tickets on every leg of their journey, and ticket machines were vandalised.
| -Most Australian jurisdictions have strict privacy regimes, and in any case the use of smart cards can be just as anonymous as cash." |
An important part of the process is two-way communication with passengers. A comprehensive communications plan is being put in place in Sydney to secure customer feedback, ensuring the physical system and its deployment meet the expectations of passengers and transit service operators.
Most Australian jurisdictions have strict privacy regimes, and in any case the use of smart cards can be just as anonymous as 
cash. That is not the case if the card is charged by transferring funds from a bank or credit card account ("autoloading), but state governments could follow the lead set by the Victorian legislation governing the CityLink toll roads and impose additional penalties for misusing personal information. For example, the contractor involved in the Sydney smart card program has been made subject to the same privacy requirements as NSW government agencies.
It is likely that passengers will be given the option of providing their personal details so that a lost or stolen card can be cancelled and the balance refunded or credited to its replacement.
Either way, customer details would be stored separately from the transaction database, and very few people would have access to them. The assertion is that it isn't difficult to provide privacy from a technical standpoint; the problem is to communicate that to passengers. In Hong Kong, there are some 1.6 billion transport smart card transactions a year, but apparently the takeup of autoloading is low, presumably reflecting concern over potential privacy breaches.
One of the strengths of a smart card system is that the value is held on the card and duplicated in the central system, so any discrepancies can be easily detected. Attempted frauds require access to the card and the back-end database, which severely limits the number of potential culprits. Despite the volume of transactions already noted, there have been only around half a dozen discrepancies noted there.
As for fare evasion, we are likely to see more automated gates at stations. In Melbourne, 85 percent of passengers already have to pass through a gate at one or both ends of their journey, and the government hopes that the ease of use of smart cards will encourage more passengers to do the right thing on buses and trams.
It is also quicker for inspectors ("revenue protection officers in Newspeak) to check smart cards than regular tickets--passengers simply hold up their card to the inspector's reader. The process is around twice as fast and more accurate.
But security has several aspects. One advantages of contactless smart cards is that they need not be removed from a purse or wallet, thus reducing the risk of loss. The technology used allows a separation of up to one metre between card and reader, but the range is generally set to 10cm so passengers can be sure they triggered their own transactions. And as we have already seen, it is possible to cancel a lost smart card and recover the value stored in it.
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