ContactlessNews | SEPTA settles on a contract for open fare system

Friday, November 18, 2011

The Southeaster Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA) has voted to award a contract of up to $129.5 million to ACS Transport Solutions Group for the installation of a new contactless open fare system.

According to SEPTA, the new system will replace current tokens, paper tickets and magnetic stripe passes with bank cards, smart ID’s, NFC-enabled phones and pre-paid contactless SEPTA cards. Customers will be able to pay fares with a simple tap the contactless device of their choice upon entry to vehicles and stations.

Dubbed “New Payment Technologies” (NPT), the project will be divided into three phases and is expected to be complete within three years.

The first phase will focus on design and testing, with implementation following in the second and third phases. NPT will be rolled out first on buses and trolleys, followed by the Market-Frankford and Broad Street lines, and then the Regional Rail system.

SEPTA says it will take a gradual approach to implementing the new system, retaining familiar transit fare elements while adding new technology. Additionally, the authority plans to conduct a region-wide education and awareness program to explain the new system and demonstrate how it will work for riders.

Check out SEPTA’s NPT page for more details.

austriamicrosystems joins OSPT, promotes open standard specs

The Open Standard for Public Transport (OSPT) Alliance announced that austriamicrosystems has joined as a full member.

Since joining the OSPT Alliance, austriamicrosystems will have access to the CIPURSE open standard specification, leveraging its experience into embedded systems for mobile fare collection applications. The open standard promotes vendor neutrality and cross-vendor system interoperability with reduced technology adoption risks, higher quality and improved market responsiveness.

OC Transpo smart card system helps reduce lost revenue

OC Transpo, Canada is planning a new smart card system to roll out this year that will help reduce lost revenues due to malfunctions with the transit’s electronic fare boxes, according to CBC News.

Turkcell launches NFC-enabled handset from ZTE

Chinese handset manufacturer ZTE has partnered with Turkcell, Turkey’s largest mobile operator, to offer a new SIM-based NFC mobile device for the Turkish market.

The Turkcell T11 handset (aka the ZTE Racer II) can be used to pay for both highway toll payments and items at the point of sale with a simple tap against a contactless reader.

Philly public schools adding transit to existing contactless IDs

Student cards already serve attendance, access control

By Zack Martin, Editor, Avisian Publishing

To use a transportation analogy, three separate tracks are coming together in Philadelphia to form a very interesting student ID and public transit solution.

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