Smartcard Interoperability Issues For The Transit Industry

"TRB Transit Cooperative Research Program (TCRP) Report 115: Smartcard Interoperability Issues for the Transit Industry explores interoperability; identifies information needed by public agencies to implement smartcard payment systems interoperability; examines the necessary information flows; and outlines a set of functions needed for a standard public domain application programming interface (API) that may be used in the development of a uniform application protocol data unit (APDU). The report also includes a prototype for an API and an APDU that demonstrates this "proof of concept" for International Organization for Standardization-compliant Type A and Type B cards"--Publisher's description

TCRP Report 94: Fare Policies, Structures and Technologies: Update identifies, describes, and evaluates key fare structures, policies, and technologies that are being considered by transit agencies, with a focus on their impact on customers, operations management, and effective and equitable fare integration. The report includes data on fare structures, policy-making procedures, and ongoing efforts to implement fare technology. This report provides guidance on making decisions related to fare policies, structures, and technologies. It includes practical information that can be readily used by transit professionals and policy makers in fare-related planning and decision making. This report updates information presented in TCRP Reports 10 and 32 and presents the latest developments and research results related to fare policy and technology issues.

Collecting fares through "smart cards" is becoming standard in most advanced public transport networks of major cities around the world. Travellers value their convenience and operators the reduced money handling fees. Electronic tickets also make it easier to integrate fare systems, to create complex time and space differentiated fare systems, and to provide incentives to specific target groups. A less-utilised benefit is the data collected through smart cards. Records, even if anonymous, provide for a much better understanding of passengers’ travel behaviour as current literature shows. This information can also be used for better service planning. Public Transport Planning with Smart Card Data handles three major topics: how passenger behaviour can be estimated using smart card data, how smart card data can be combined with other trip databases, and how the public transport service level can be better evaluated if smart card data is available. The book discusses theory as well as applications from cities around the world and will be of interest to researchers and practitioners alike who are interested in the state-of-the-art as well as future perspectives that smart card data will bring.