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TRANSACTIONS NEWSLETTER ONLINE
May/June 1999: TransLink®

Smart Cards: Global Perspective

While smart cards are a fairly new concept in the United States, they have been widely used in Europe for a decade or more and now are spreading rapidly in Asia. Here's a global sampling of where smart-card transit fare systems are in place or being planned. In all cases, the programs involve contactless smart cards or "dual interface" cards that can be used in both the contact and contactless modes.

Asia and Australia
Launched in 1996, Hong Kong's "Octopus" smart-card fare collection system* is similar to TransLink®, but on a grander scale. Four million customers a day use the cards to travel on ferry, bus, and light-, heavy- and underground rail lines operated by several transit systems. Card holders also can use their cards for other purchases.

New automated fare collection equipment using smart-card technology is already operational on one line of the metropolitan heavy rail system serving Shanghai, China, and is being installed on a second line.

In Singapore, the Enhanced Integrated Fare System* will be installed in a multioperator network that includes 3,750 buses as well as rapid transit and light-rail transit. When fully operational in 2002, it will involve 5 million smart cards and 22,000 readers, making it one of the largest transit system smart-card applications in the world. Nontransit applications will be added to the card in the future.

Some 6 million transit smart cards are in circulation in Seoul, and bus and rail systems in Japan are also getting "smart."

A number of transit systems in Australia either have already introduced smart-card fare systems, or are on the brink of doing so. For example, in Western Australia, the Bunbury City Transit* bus system has just launched a smart fare card that eventually also could be used for pay phones, parking, vending machines, tolls and retail purchases. And Sydney is getting ready to issue a contract for a smart-card fare collection system that will be installed on bus, rail and ferry lines.

Europe
London Transport is installing a massive new ticketing and fare collection system that will be based on contactless smart cards. Covering 6,000 city buses as well as underground rail, the system is being rolled out in phases, beginning in late 2002.

A contract was recently awarded to install a smart-card fare collection system for the bus, rail and tram networks in Rome and the surrounding region* over the next two years, with operation starting in Rome by July 2000. Initially, up to 500,000 smart cards will be issued, a number expected to increase to more than 1 million cards within the first year.

The Transport Authority of Berlin* will begin testing a smart-card ticket system in October 1999. Approximately 25,000 participants will use the cards on two subway lines, two bus routes and a tram line in Berlin and the surrounding area. Full operation is set for 2002.

A consortium of transit operators and Spanish banks will test the use of smart cards by transit riders in Madrid and Barcelona later this year. The transit fare cards will be combined with VisaCash cards already used by over 5 million consumers in Spain for retail purchases.

The Ministry of Transport, Public Works and Water Management in the Netherlands is exploring the feasibility of replacing paper transit tickets with smart cards, recently awarding a contract for a pilot project in the city of Groningen.* Involving 80 buses and 10,000 smart cards, the trial of the "Tripperpas" is set to begin in mid-2000. Applications may extend beyond transit to include parking and other uses.

United States
The Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA), a 100-mile rail system serving Washington, D.C., and nearby suburbs in Maryland and Virginia, paved the way as the first major U.S. transit agency to introduce smart cards. After several months of testing, WMATA rolled out the SmarTrip card system to its 736,000 daily riders in May 1999. The cards also can be used to pay for parking in WMATA lots and eventually will be used on WMATA buses and for retail purchases.

Chicago likely will be the next U.S. city to begin using smart-card transit tickets, following a successful pilot program for disabled patrons in 1998. Smart-card fare equipment has been installed on 3,300 city and suburban buses and the rail transit system. The city's transit authority is expected to officially launch the smart-card fare system later this year.

In the Seattle area, seven transit agencies are collaborating on a project to create a smart farecard system for 2,200 buses as well as for ferries and light-rail and commuter trains. Riders eventually will be able to use the card for nontransit purposes, such as checking out library books or gaining access to city swimming pools. Current plans are to begin revenue service in 2002.

Amtrak plans to introduce smart cards as part of an automated fare collection system that will be installed on the new Acela Express high-speed rail service* between Boston, New York and Washington, D.C., later this year.

South America
The city of Curitiba in southern Brazil has begun an ambitious program to offer multipurpose smart cards to its entire population of 1.5 million. The cards will provide access to the city's public services, including local bus transit, and serve as an "electronic purse" for retail purchases. The initial phase called for distributing the cards to 30,000 municipal employees and their families.

-- Marjorie Blackwell & Brenda Kahn

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