Innovision R&T showcases two major new Jewel-compatible readers at UITP World Congress

The almex.optima high-speed mobile ticket console and reader module from German manufacturer, Höft & Wessel, and the MCR20 and MCR30 from South American company Empresa 1 will take center stage on Innovision R&T’s stand (No. 30A210, hall 30) at the June 5-9 International Association of Public Transport (UITP) World Congress in Rome.

As the leading Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) design services company for the transport sector, Innovision R&T believes that the combination of Jewel, the world’s smallest and lowest-cost ticketing chip, and readers such as the Empresa 1 and almex.optima module is driving the global adoption of Limited Use tickets.

Trevor Crotch-Harvey, Director at Innovision Research & Technology plc, explained: “Traditionally, the cost of conventional contactless smart card systems has been prohibitive for the transport sector and their use to date has been limited to season tickets. But now, with the global trend towards contactless ticketing systems, transport operators are looking to ensure that the highest possible proportion of journeys are covered by the technology in order to reduce maintenance overheads, cut costs and increase passenger throughput.

“This is an exciting time for the global transport sector, since we can start to see a viable business case for integrating RFID into Limited Use and disposable tickets. With the cost of silicon falling and emergence of new production techniques, the costs of producing low value smart tickets have dropped significantly, opening up a potentially huge market for completely contactless smart card systems across all fare structures.”

almex.optima
almex.optima ticket machines are supporting multiple new smart card schemes across Europe. These include high-profile UK projects in the North West (NoWCard), Cheshire, Devon and Cornwall, as well as major new schemes in Oslo and a nationwide public transport e-ticketing system for the Netherlands.

Empresa 1 Empresa 1 has two Jewel-compatible reader models - the MCR20 and MCR30. Both are dual interface readers, the latter having a real-time clock, 512kB NVRAM and 2MB serial flash memory. Jewel tickets can also be read by the company’s validator model VE1-S.

About Jewel Innovision R&T’s Jewel technology - the smallest and lowest-cost ticketing chip in the world - was launched in 2004 and is one of just two RFID technology platforms recommended in the Limited Use section of the UK ITSO transport standard version 2.1. Jewel, designed specifically for low-cost mass transit ticketing, enables electronic data relating to ticket type, travel validity, etc, to be securely stored within a conventional ticket form factor and instantly transferred to the reader.

About Innovision Research & Technology Innovision Research & Technology plc is a leading Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) design services company for the Transport, Medical and Consumer Electronics sectors. Headquartered in Wokingham, UK, with its IC design facility in Cirencester, UK, the company creates, develops and licenses low-cost near-field RFID systems and silicon chip designs via its team of engineers, IC designers and RFID specialists. Established in 1994, Innovision R&T is listed on the Alternative Investment Market (AIM) of the London Stock Exchange (ticker symbol: INN). For further information, visit: www.innovision-group.com.

About Almex Information Systems Almex Information Systems operates as part of the Hannover-based Höft & Wessel Group and is dedicated to developing innovative ticketing solutions. Almex products include stationary ticket vending machines, ticket printers for buses and trams, kiosk solutions, info-screens and mobile ticket vending devices, all supported by back office solutions and software development tailored for customers’ individual requirements.

About Empresa 1 A Brazilian company, Empresa 1 uses Brazilian-developed technology to come up with solutions that can be easily adopted anywhere in the world. Specialising in electronic payments, Empresa 1 develops and produces software and equipment for processing smart card-based transactions.