PRINCETON JUNCTION–The Smart Card Alliance Transportation Council has announced its first year results, upcoming project plans and new officers, including its new Chair, Paul Korczak from MTA New York City Transit. A focused group within the overall structure of the Alliance, the Transportation Council works to help accelerate the deployment of standards-based smart card payment programs within the transportation industry.

First year Council participation exceeded expectations, including ten top tier U.S. transit agencies. In addition to transit agencies, the Council’s 43 members represent a cross-section of the industry, including chip and card suppliers, transportation system suppliers, systems integrators and financial services providers.

New members joining the Alliance and participating in the Transportation Council include ACS, Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority, METRO – Southwest Ohio Regional Transit Authority, San Francisco Bay Area Metropolitan Transportation Commission, Metropolitan Transportation Authority Bridges and Tunnels, MTA New York City Transit, Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, Parcxmart, PBS&J, PepperCoin, Scheidt & Bachmann, TransitCenter, Tri-County Metropolitan Transportation District of Oregon (TriMet) and the Utah Transit Authority.

“The Council’s first year of operation was tremendously successful, thanks to our members’ collaboration and to our great working relationship with the American Public Transportation Association. The Council has been able to move forward with projects that look at how to bring smart card-based payments to the public in different transportation segments,” said Randy Vanderhoof, executive director of the Alliance.

The Council’s first major accomplishment was publishing the white paper, Smart Cards and Parking, available at www.smartcardalliance.org. The white paper attracted broad Council member participation and includes extensive industry information on the use of smart cards in both parking and transit.

“The high level of participation in the Council and the excitement around its projects this year really illustrate that the transportation industry is serious about accelerating the use of smart cards for payments across the many modes of transportation and transportation-related services. It was great to be able to work as chair to lay the groundwork for this Council and to help further the progress of this technology in this market,” said Greg Garback, executive officer, department of finance, Washington Metropolitan Area Transportation Authority (WMATA) and the exiting co-chair of the Council.

The Council elected new officers and steering committee representatives in February.

New Transportation Council officers are: –Chair: Paul Korczak, MTA New York City Transit –Vice Chair, Transit: Chris Cipperly, WMATA –Vice Chair, Parking: David deKozan, Cubic Transportation Systems

New steering committee representatives are: –Willy Dommen, Booz Allen Hamilton –Michael Laezza, ERG Group –Ashi Majid, Infineon Technologies –Tomas Oliva, TriMet –Tim Weisenberger, U.S. Department of Transportation/Volpe Center –Bob Wilberger, Northrop Grumman Corporation

Also elected and serving in a non-voting, advisory capacity are: –Mike Dinning, U.S. Department of Transportation/Volpe Center –Greg Garback, WMATA –Martin Schroeder, American Public Transportation Association

“This is an important time for the transportation industry, as business cases for expanded use of contactless smart cards in both transit and in banking are emerging. In large part, the impetus comes from a market-driven business interest to address micropayments,” said Paul Korczak, assistant chief officer, MetroCard Sales Operations, MTA New York City Transit and incoming chair. “As such, this year will be an important time for the Transportation Council to work on projects that look at how, in the context of emerging business cases, a broad interest in open, interoperable system solutions can be joined with advances in contactless smart card technology to improve customer service and the cost effectiveness of transit fare payment.”

Council priorities for 2006 include: –Exploring linkages between transit payment and new contactless financial payment approaches. –Collaborating with the APTA Universal Transit Farecard Standards Taskforce to examine the need for a security specification for the UTFS standard for transportation electronic payment systems. –Expanding on parking activities of the past year to engage with organizations deploying parking payment solutions and to discuss linkages between existing transit payment approaches and parking payment systems. –Developing a white paper describing multi-use vs. multi-application cards for transit payment.

The Transportation Council is open to participation from any organization that joins the Alliance and the Council. For more information, please visit www.smartcardalliance.org.

About the Transportation Council The Smart Card Alliance Transportation Council is focused on promoting the adoption of interoperable contactless smart card payment systems for transit and other transportation services. Formed in association with the American Public Transportation Association (APTA), the Council is engaged in projects that support applications of smart card use. The overall goal of the Transportation Council is to help accelerate the deployment of standards-based smart card payment programs within the transportation industry.

About the Smart Card Alliance The Smart Card Alliance is a not-for-profit, multi-industry association working to stimulate the understanding, adoption, use and widespread application of smart card technology. Through specific projects such as education programs, market research, advocacy, industry relations and open forums, the Alliance keeps its members connected to industry leaders and innovative thought. The Alliance is the single industry voice for smart cards, leading industry discussion on the impact and value of smart cards in the U.S. and Latin America. For more information please visit www.smartcardalliance.org.