Article: Oyster Smartcard: Lessons from London

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Oyster smartcard: lessons from London

Oyster smartcard: lessons from London
by Rail Express — last modified Apr 28, 2010 10:41 AM


With attempts to integrate transport ticketing in Sydney and Melbourne dogged by cost blowouts and delays, Australia has much to learn from the world's biggest and best smart card – the London Oyster.
Oyster smartcard: lessons from London

By Richard Thomas*

The introduction of the Oyster smart card ticketing system in London, in the summer of 2003, now seems a long time ago.
In the years since its introduction, Oyster has grown rapidly to become one of the worlds' largest and most complex fare collection systems. The system is universally recognised as a benchmark for others to follow and many transport operators around the world regularly come to London to look at the scheme before embarking on their own smart card projects.
There are many lessons to be learned from London that are relevant for transport officials around the globe, particularly in Australia, which has had a fairly chequered history with smart cards for public transport.

Transport for London (TfL) has gained extensive knowledge since deploying Oyster and now offers support to other cities installing their own smartcard systems. They recently signed an accord with New York, which could see Oyster-style innovations introduced into the Big Apple.
In London, the implementation of Oyster was managed very carefully by TfL to ensure that the introduction was smooth and seamless. It was important to ensure that customers learnt to trust the Oyster product and that the technology worked before allowing customers to use it.
The first Oyster products rolled out were annual and monthly passes, with additional products being introduced gradually. This allowed timely introduction of the Oyster card with minimum risk – the approach built on incremental successes and avoided a "big-bang" approach where customers and operators risked being overwhelmed by the new system.

A major highlight was the introduction of "Fare Capping" software in February 2005. This was a world's first, where TfL guaranteed it would provide the cheapest fare for the travel undertaken.

The take-up of the Oyster card grew rapidly and today there are 28 million cards in circulation. In London in 2010, there are an impressive 9.6 million trips each day using Oyster cards.

Of particular interest to international transport operators is the speed at which the ticketing systems works, allowing commuters to enter and leave the railway network quickly and simply. Up to 40 commuters per minute can pass through each ticket gate on underground train stations.
Ticket queues have been slashed, as Oyster card users never have to line up to buy a ticket. Oyster cards can be topped up remotely via the internet or by an auto top up facility via the customers' bank. Auto top ups are delivered to all fare payment devices throughout the entire system.

There are also around 4,000 newsagents across London that are designated Oyster retailers, and numerous self service vending machines across the rail network.

The Oyster card is used as an integrated public transport ticket which allows the customer to access 600 London rail stations, 8,500 buses as well as the Docklands Light Rail, the Croydon Tram system and Thames Clipper riverboat ferries.

In January 2010, Oyster card use was also extended to national rail stations above ground in the London area. There are more than 23,000 smart card readers across London to facilitate all of the daily public transport transactions for London commuters.

While the London smart card ticketing system is widely acknowledged as being the world's biggest and best, there are many other schemes of various sizes and complexity around the globe. The Octopus card, introduced in Hong Kong in 1997, is widely regarded as a pioneering project that used smart card technology to integrate public transport in a major city.

Since then, transport operators have been paying close attention to the benefits that smart card technology brings to both the operator and the customer. While these smart card ticketing systems are not cheap to introduce, there are major business benefits for the operator in reduced fraud and vastly improved system management information.

For example, in London it is estimated that the reduction in ticketing fraud enables an extra forty million pounds a year to be collected. In addition, bus timetables have had to be re-written, as people are now getting on and off the busses more quickly, slashing waiting times.
These benefits also flow through to customers with simplified fares and easier access to the modes of transport. There are additional environmental benefits, with one million less paper tickets used in London every day.

Smart card ticketing systems are now used in transport systems in cities across Asia, Europe, and North America, with a small number up and running in Africa.

The interest is growing, as the technology matures and the benefits become self-evident.

In Australia and New Zealand, the introduction of smart card ticketing systems is well advanced. South East Queensland and Perth already have fully functional systems that are working extremely well, but Sydney and Melbourne have experienced some difficulties in getting a fully functional system up and running.

In London, one of the critical success factors in the successful delivery of the Oyster card was the strong partnership that was formed between the transport authority and the supplier.

"[The Oyster Card] now trusted by, and taken for granted by millions of passengers...[which] five years ago, many were sceptical that a project which involved the words 'transport' and '21st Century technology' could ever be made a real success – but it works," the commissioner for transport in London Peter Hendy said.

"In fact it works so well that the public and media support for it means that all train operating companies serving London should have it installed by this time next year."

The speed of delivery of modern ticketing systems has also increased sharply over the past few years. For example, in the American state of Florida the Miami-Dade Transit's new EASY CARD system, which was officially launched in October 2009, was built, integrated and fully operational across all rail and bus services within 15 months.

This is an amazing achievement that proves that partnerships between operators and suppliers can produce extraordinary results when the teams are focussed and empowered to "get the job done".

Around the world, many cities with established smart card ticketing systems are now looking to see where technology and customer preference is moving. There is great interest in the potential for mobile phone technology to eliminate the need for a ticket at all.

The banking industry is also working with transport authorities to allow journeys to be paid for with contactless bank cards. This transition would enable customers to use transport systems anywhere in the world without worrying about how and where to buy a ticket.
The technology is moving very fast. It's possible that in 2012 an Australian sports fanatic arriving in London for the Olympic Games may be able to step off a plane at Heathrow Airport, whip out a credit card, and travel from venue to venue for the duration of the Games, without ever having to line up to buy a ticket.

*Richard Thomas worked for Transport for London for 35 years and was a founder member of the Oyster card project team. He joined Cubic Transportation Systems in 2006.