Smart Cards for ETS
[Update: Nov. 1, 2012, Council Approves Intelligent Fare System for ETS, Region; see here for links and info.]
The infamous ETS Platinum has a smart card reader onboard.
Tomorrow council’s Transportation and Public Works (TPW) Committee will discuss a report on the prospects for implementing a ‘smart card’ system for paying fares on ETS. These are typically ‘contactless’ or ‘proximity’ systems where you simply wave the card past the reader.
The report responds to an inquiry I initiated a couple of months ago in anticipation of my rotation on to TPW for the next year.
I’ve been keen on this since having a great experience in London with the ‘Oyster Card‘ system on my honeymoon three years ago, and since working on the U-Pass negotiations and implementation in my former role working for students at the U of A.
These systems have much broader application as well, such as the ability to integrate with other civic and partner cards, for example Edmonton Public Library card, City rec facility access, parking access. In Asia many smart card systems also function as debit cards.
ETS has been conducting a pilot project with the U of A, who are also evaluation smart card systems for their One-Card, which illustrates some of the potential for partnerships with other institutions.
From the report:
A key benefit of smart cards is the improved operational efficiency due to simplified fare product and financial distribution channels. Agencies report better revenues due to re-designed fare strategies, value-added service features and convenience. Other benefits include:
- Better able to forecast service and market adjustments with real time travel and usage data
- Improve use of all transit modes due to easier transfers
- Deliver immediate benefits and changes to fares, etc. to users
- Provide access to other municipal services
- Accept other smart cards from banks, etc.
There are positive operating budget impacts outlined in the report as well:
- reduce financial losses due to fare evasion
- sell advertisement on the card (logos, etc.)
- reduce costs associated with printing fare media and distribution
- enable immediate changes to create a more efficient transit service based on real time commuter travel history
- reduce some of the support needed for other fare systems (ie cash, tickets, etc.).
I would add the following as well:
- Customer ease of use in terms of being able to recharge the card on-line or automatically.
- Ability to manage zone fares easily, which will be more important as intermunicipal transit develops in the Capital Region.
- Ability to deactivate if lost or stolen.
The report indicates a four year rollout with a $24 million price tag. The city’s auditor recommended in 2006 that the city persue this as the financial and operational benefits were strong. I’m hoping to give it a push forward tomorrow and get the formal business case prepared.
I’d like to see us get started on implementation soon. This isn’t leading edge stuff anymore. This is now an established practice.
From the terms of production, one wonders what the “purchase price” of this will be to the consumer, and to the City. Far too often corporations ‘farm out’ things and justify it with “Ah, its cheaper to farm it out than hire an employee and pay benefits etc”. Look at the millions wasted, versus the cost of “doing it yourself”. Photo radar is one example. If the City is to go this route (which have a lot of cons addressed to it) then I would suggest that purchasing the equipment to CREATE the cards and have staff ‘program them’ is better than farming it out. The savings can be passed on to all departments as (example) managing employee cards, doing library cards, etc.
The expense would come in the card blanks, which can then be customized for use as transit passes, city rec passes, employee identification, and anything else.
Potential good step, but must be aware of technology cracks and scams…. and of course careful monitoring of the process to rule out any internal scams. :)
We were in Hong Kong last July and were incredibly impressed with the efficiency of the Hong Kong MTR. The MTR uses the Octopus card – similar in concept to the Oyster, as I understand it.
Our initial purchase of an Octopus card happened to be at a MTR booth, with a minimum initial amount that could be refunded upon surrender of the card, less a small fee.
The Octopus card was easy to recharge – being able to do that at any MTR station or 7-Eleven convenience store. The 7-Eleven was also happy to accept the Octopus for payment for items we purchased from the store. Beer in Hong Kong is cheap! And 7-Eleven sells beer. Connect the dots. :-)
In all seriousness, all the while we were in Hong Kong, we kept thing that our ETS folks could learn a lesson or three from their MTR system. Very efficient, very clean and exceedingly easy to use.
I wonder what the privacy impacts will be? I had a similar positive experience with the Oyster cards in London a few years ago. And while I agree that the systems can work quite well, a complaint from some Londoners was around the transit authority having too much information on them…
The (potential) issue is that each time we swipe to enter a station/bus, and each time we swipe to exit, data is collected. This data can be linked to the identity of the individual (or at least to the purchaser). The privacy folks would tend to advise us that unless there is a specific business reason to keep this data, it needs to be scrubbed regularly to prevent secondary uses.
I do know that this was raised in London (where British privacy laws are far less strict that those in Canada) and there was some controversy. For an implementation here, it will be important for a privacy impact assessment to be performed as part of the process.
Mike
Re privacy issues as raised by Mike Waddingham–
In Hong Kong the Octopus card doesn’t require any ID to purchase. We paid in HK$ and the process was as quick as buying a LRT pass here – though we dealt with a human in a booth, not a machine. I’m sure there were probably machines dispensing the cards too.
With cards paid for with cash, purchased from many vendors, not just MTR, I doubt there would be much ability to track an identifiable person’s purchases.
Of course such a card then could/would become a suitable conduit for transferring sums between various non-tax-paying parties… The Octopus card has a limit of HK$1000 – about $133 CDN. I’d think a similar limit would be imposed to avoid an obvious attraction to the criminal elements.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Octopus_card
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MTR
Interesting that HK didn’t see the potential for the convergence opportunities (as Don has). When a card becomes more than an electronic wallet, as it would for access to library or other services, that’s where privacy comes into play. The card then would contain an identifier.
Add more services, link some databases together and there’s Big Brother potential with this technology…
Of course, all the privacy issues can be handled — this is not a show-stopper — but it is best to consider them early in the process rather than after the rollout!
(BTW, here’s a Wikipedia link on this subject: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oyster_card — data held for 8 months, over 400 police data access requests granted in 8 months…)
Anyway, still a good idea if implemented properly. (In fact, in 2007 I recommended a converged Oyster card solution to the City, so I’m glad to see it resurrected!)
Mike
Reply to Trevor Moyer
Haven’t heard about the Oyster Card, but the Octopus Card is by far the most efficient form of mass transit/mass payment method I have ever seen.
The card is so versatile that ppl use it to pay not only transit (there are senior ones which remove a diff value fare), but parking meters, fast food, convenience store purchases, taxis, vending machines, etc. With 6 million residents, business and transit must move people through the fastest way, and payment is one of the most time consuming transactions in a purchase. One person in line looking for change on the bus, punching in a pin for debit at the movie theatre, purchasing with credit card at a parking machine…
Hong Kong is actually replacing the Octopus now, but it has been so widely used and great security up to this point as few have been able to duplicate fake ones.
It’s good because it does not access people’s bank accounts and are treated as cash. You pay a deposit (maybe $10) on the card so that you don’t just dispose it when your balance is done. Then you just keep adding a balance on the card (like $25 at a time). If you’re at like $0.10 left on your balance, you can still get on the bus, and then when you replenish the amount, it takes that amount off.
The technology has been transferred to watches for kids so that they don’t lose their virtual money. It’s a great monetary system. Unfortunately, businesses in North America don’t like the idea of a non-guaranteed return so they sell gift cards here. As well, the idea that a card can be stolen and anonymously used has people worried about security here. That said, the cards have special chips that are registered and have been used to solve crimes as well.