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| Subject: London Calling--OysterLondon is to shortly introduce a transport smartcard system and boroughs in the city are looking to use it to develop the first stage of a London-wide "citizen" card. | |
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Author: Thursday, June 05 2003 |
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Date Posted: Thursday, June 12, 03:52:31am ::E-GOVERNMENT Citywide 'citizen cards' to hit London Thursday, June 05 2003 by Andrew McLindon Send story to a friend Print this story London is to shortly introduce a transport smartcard system and boroughs in the city are looking to use it to develop the first stage of a London-wide "citizen" card. While citizens in Asian cities have adopted smartcards for a wide range of uses such as transport ticketing and paying for a coffee of cup, European cities have been slower to introduce such initiatives. London appears to be seeking to change that situation. By the end of June or early July, Transport for London (TfL) expects to introduce credit card sized smartcards for adults travelling on the underground and buses across the city in a STG1.2 billion project. Commuters will be able to use this card in replace of monthly and annual tickets. TfL's 80,000 tube and bus employees have been testing the card since October of last year. According to Transport for London, the card will benefit it and passengers because it will reduce the amount of time people have to queue to buy a ticket and to get through ticketing barriers. Cardholders will simply swipe their card through a reader to gain access to the relevant forms of transport, said TfL. It is envisaged that Transport for London's Oyster card will also be used by the city's borough to "bolt-on" additional services. According to Mick Davies, a strategy consultant for London Connects, which is the agency responsible for e-Government delivery in London, the roll-out of TfL's smartcard will act as an impetus for London boroughs. "We estimate that there will be around two millions of these cards being used by spring 2004 and the idea now is to look at what applications boroughs can add to these cards," said Davies. A London Connects document envisages the card being used as an electronics purse for things such as parking, library services and access to leisure facilities, as well as an entry token providing a means of establishing the holder's rights to public and private services. "It will make access to services easier for cardholders most in need of them. It will reduce the requirement for needy citizens to repeatedly prove that they are who they say they are and it will remove the stigma associated with means-tested services such as school dinners," said the document. Currently, 30 London boroughs are working together so that the smartcards can be used across London and are not just limited to particular areas. It is envisaged that these "citizen smartcards" will be introduced in some boroughs by the first quarter of 2004, however this will depend on the requisite funding of around STG1 million being raised. It is thought that introducing the system across the whole of London will cost upwards of STG50 million. It is also planned that the pan-London smartcard will be rolled into the UK's national smart card project, which recently received parliamentary approval. However, London Connects admitted this will be quite a task as the Transport for London smartcard uses a different standard to the one that will be used in the national card. Seoul, Hong Kong, and Singapore are just some of the Asian cities that have introduced smartcards that also function as electronic purses for their public transport systems. In Hong Kong, for instance, over 9 million people have an Octopus smart card. Plans to introduce a similar smartcard for Dublin's transport system appear to have been much delayed. The Government's New Connections report said such a system was to be introduced by the end of 2003. However, in November, Transport Minister, Seamus Brennan, TD, said integrated ticketing for bus and rail services would be introduced in 2004, but remarked that transport smartcards were a "longer-term matter." Related Stories ::Global e-government 21 May 21-05-2003 ::Global e-government 12 February 12-02-2003 ::Global e-government 18 December 18-12-2002 ::Transport smartcards remain elusive 28-11-2002 :: MORE NEWS from E-GOVERNMENT [ Next Thread | Previous Thread | Next Message | Previous Message ] |