Contactless Smart Cards, RFID, Payment, Transit and Security

Melbourne rolls out overdue, underdeveloped fare system

Wednesday, December 30, 2009

Public Transport Minister Lynne Kosky has announced the partial launch of Melbourne’s heavily postponed $1.3 billion smart card fare system, according to The Herald Sun.

As of now, the system is only be available to passengers on trains. Tram and bus commuters must still use paper tickets until software glitches in are fixed.


The Herald Sun has criticized the partial launch as irresponsible on the part of Kosky, and points out that it is bound to further confuse and frustrate commuters.

For example, swipe times are still “unacceptably” slow, clogging up lines at already congested platforms during rush hour.

Read more here[end] 

India transport operator Ahmedabad Janmarg Ltd. has launched a smart transit card for commuters traveling on the region’s bus system, according to ISO&Agent.

The agency began a six-month trial and August 2010 followed by a soft and silent launch in January 2012. The card is available now for a nonrefundable fee of 25 rupees ($.50 US cents) and allows commuters to travel for up to 100 minutes on one bus, for the minimum fare.

read more »

The Peninsula Taxi Association (PTA) in South Africa has launched a electronic fare collection system, granting commuters cashless fare and discounts when using the newly developed contactless-enabled transit card, according to The Cape Times.

read more »

NXP Semiconductors announced that its MIFARE DESFire EV1 platform has been selected to manage the automated fare collection of the newly opened metro in the Indian city of Bengaluru, formally known as Bangalore.

read more »

UK-regional bus group Bluestar has launched a new transit card for discounted weekly and monthly travel on its network, according to Southern Daily Echo.

The new card enables cashless fare for any service on the Bluestar Network in Southampton, Eastleigh and Winchester. It also supports travel on Wilts & Dorset buses and Southern Vectis on the Isle of Wight, both of which are owned and operated by Go-Ahead Group.

read more »

As some may recall back in June 2010, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) of New York launched tap-and-go contactless payments for commuters to enter select subway stations and participating bus lines using MasterCard PayPass-enabled terminals. Well, the results are in.

read more »

The Jacksonville Transit Authority (JTA) experienced an overwhelmingly large amount of people signing up for the region’s new STAR smart payment card system, according to a local news brief.

read more »

Subscribe to the Contactless News Library
Gain access to the largest collection of Auto-ID analysis on the Internet.