South African roads and transport are increasingly coming under pressure and with it the administration of the various transport elements. Integrated Card Technology (ICT) has been actively marketing smartcard solutions within the transport sector with two main objectives, namely to reduce administration costs and substantially improve the security of payment.
Applications of the smartcard within the transport sector range from ticketing, electronic tolling and electronic licensing to parking and fuel management.
"Those applications represent the key areas in which smartcard technology can be utilised," says Stirling McBride, Product Manager at ICT. "Using both contact but mainly contactless technology, the smartcard can be used for any of these applications."
Contactless smartcard technology
Contact smartcards require a smartcard reader that is normally kept by the service provider who, at the point of transacting, would insert the card into the reader to complete the transaction.
Contactless technology on the other hand is virtually maintenance free and is a significantly faster process. It has had most of its success in ferry and rail ticketing applications in Asia. The validation is very quick and easy, as the card has only to be passed in front of the reader. The cardholder can even leave the card in a wallet or handbag - it will work just the same.
"Using the smartcard for ticketing on all forms of transport including, taxis, trains, buses and even airplanes is a safer, faster and more convenient way of commuting. There is no need for the commuter to carry cash so the driver or cashier are no longer at risk from criminals as all cash is stored in an electronic purse on the smartcard. Furthermore, the size of the memory chip allows flexibility in terms of fare structuring and the ability to add other applications such as telephony and loyalty.
Parking applications
"The parking application of the smartcard works along similar lines - the consumer parking in a public parking area is no longer forced to look for small change either to put into parking meters or to pay the cashier. A smartcard is purchased at a central point, and is then utilised until the credit available on the card has been used up. The Cape Town metropol is planning in the short term to replace coin operated parking meters in the city precinct with a contactless smartcard solution.
Electronic tolling
"Electronic tolling is another use for the smartcard. As the government looks at instal-ling more toll roads on South African highways, the commuter cringes at the thought of traffic jams in every conceivable direction. With electronic tolling the commuter is assured of rapid traffic flow, as opposed to the current 'stop and go' system.
"In the case of prepaid electronic tolling, the toll companies would be able to collect their revenues instantly without costly administrative infrastructures. This will assist in ensuring that essential road maintenance is carried out on all of our major roads and highways. Through an on-board unit, the vehicle would communicate with the toll road's card reader and the required toll fee deducted in a fraction of a second".
Electronic vehicle licensing
"The uses of the smartcard in the transport sector have even been extended to electronic vehicle licensing. In Mendoza, Argentina, electronic licensing has been implemented whereby the vehicle's registration number, licence, outstanding traffic fines and other relevant information is stored on the smartcard. Traffic officials carry portable smartcard readers in their vehicles which can read relevant information from the cars smart licence.
"Here in South Africa, a contract was recently awarded to a company for an electronic fuel management system to be installed in the government vehicle fleet to prevent fraud. This system will use the smartcard solution to ensure that the correct car is being filled up with the correct amount of fuel. This technology will, in due course, be implemented by fleet management companies that wish to reduce unauthorised fuel purchases and fraud within their light and heavy-duty vehicle fleets.
"Our vision at ICT is to create a multi-application card - a smartcard that can be used for a combination of applications. For example, a card that allows the holder on a national basis to pay for secure parking, to withdraw cash from an ATM, to purchase a municipal bus ticket and to collect loyalty points as the card is used.
"In South Africa, the technology is evolving slowly, but as more and more people become aware of and experience the benefits of smartcard technology, particularly in the area of low value payment, so we will begin to see the implementation of this technology on a significantly wider basis."
For details contact Integrated Card Technology on telephone (011) 608 1803, fax (011) 608 1033.
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