Below are the first 10 and last 10 pages of uncorrected machine-read text (when available) of this chapter, followed by the top 30 algorithmically extracted key phrases from the chapter as a whole.
Intended to provide our own search engines and external engines with highly rich, chapter-representative searchable text on the opening pages of each chapter.
Because it is UNCORRECTED material, please consider the following text as a useful but insufficient proxy for the authoritative book pages.
Do not use for reproduction, copying, pasting, or reading; exclusively for search engines.
OCR for page 4
4 Smartcard Interoperability Issues for the Transit Industry
1.1 Interoperability Defined
For this research project, TRB defines interoperability as "the ability of different agencies to
coordinate and share information so that passengers can travel in a seamless fashion." Travel may
occur on public transit, on a toll road or toll bridge; it may include the use of a parking facility.
Travel in a seamless fashion is primarily driven by these factors:
· Coordination of transfer points;
· Schedule coordination;
· Simplified and coordinated tariff structures;
· Transfer facilities design;
· Consistent passenger processes and operational procedures,
Boarding,
Fare payment, and
Fare inspection;
· Common interoperable fare media; and
· Convenience in obtaining fare or payment media.
As the previous list of factors indicates, fare payment interoperability is only one factor that
affects seamless travel. Contactless technologies' implementation for fare payment, both long and
short range, is accelerating across the transportation industry. The capabilities of contactless
technologies provide opportunities to allow regional payment coordination across multiple
transportation modes. These capabilities also provide an opportunity to pay for products and
services beyond transportation.
1.2 Elements of Fare Payment Interoperability
Fare payment interoperability does not necessarily require the use of a smartcard. Figure 1
illustrates the following high-level components to achieving interoperability:
· A manual system relies on human interaction such as visual inspection
· An automated system relies on technology--usually using fare media such as a contactless
smartcard to validate interoperability
This research project focused on the automated system using the contactless smartcard as the
fare medium. The information and data flows required to achieve smartcard interoperability also
applies to other media such as magnetic stripe tickets or radio frequency identification (RFID)
tags. The physical medium used for seamless payment is a medium that carries data. The most
common is magnetic stripe media; however, a solid-state, silicon-chip-based data carrier, such
as the contactless smartcard, is emerging as the preferred technology.
The first step in building an interoperable system is to organize the participants into a formal
group. A Participation Agreement binds the participants to follow a set of common rules, also
referred to as policies or business rules. At a minimum, the rules must provide the following:
· Technology requirements that include systems and fare media and
· Transaction processing that defines the data to be transferred for processing and when (how
often) that occurs.
These rules may also define other business-related aspects such as
· Branding (how the product is to be identified in the market);
· Customer service processes and procedures;
· Sharing of expenses and payment for services;
