Today,
various public transport agencies in Europe, the United States, and japan have
piloted and implemented the use of NFC-enabled mobile phones. NFC is used in
the context of transport ticketing in gateless systems to enable a simple
start-up program. Multiple applications, including online payment and
over-the-air ticketing, have also been enabled by the phone. Multiple
applications, including online payment and over-the-air ticketing, have also
been enabled by the phone. Now what is NFC? NFC is a standards-based,
short-range wireless connectivity technology that enables simple and intuitive
two-way interactions between electronic devices. With NFC technology, consumers
can perform contactless transactions, access digital content and connect
NFC-enabled devices with a single touch. NFC simplifies setup of some longer-range
wireless technologies, such as Bluetooth and Wi-Fi. It is also compatible with
the global contactless standards (ISO 14443 and/or ISO 18092), which means
transport agencies that have already deployed contactless programs enjoy a built-in
advantage, as their equipment may readily interact with NFC enabled mobile
devices and provide richer services. Now let us see the benefits of using NFC
for transport. NFC-enabled phones have great benefits over paper tickets.
Tickets stored virtually in phones are inherently more durable, less likely to
be lost, and are perceived to be more environmentally friendly than paper
versions. They are more convenient than plastic cards, with no fumbling in a
wallet for the right card. NFC-enabled
phones can hold multiple payment applications. Travelers can tap information
tags embedded in smart posters to download train schedules or information on
nearby attractions, enhancing the passenger’s travel experience as well. NFC
can also be incorporated into readers to enable services such as renting
bicycles or opening storage lockers. Now let us discuss about the
implementation of NFC in public transport.
`
NFC used for car parking & NFC
used for exchanging Information.
NFC used by a lady to board a public transport in china.
Many cities today already have automatic fare
collecting systems using gates and smart cards; e.g., London, Madrid, and
Paris. These are called as gated systems. The transport operator arranges with
the NFC-enabled phone provider to support the installation of that city’s
transport application, such as Oyster in London or Calypso in Paris, on the
secure element in the phone. multiple city transport applications can reside on
the same secure element in an NFC-enabled phone depends on the arrangements
that the various transit application owners have set up with the owner of the
secure element. The implementation of the NFC ticketing system is similar to
today’s smart card system. The advantage of using NFC-enabled phones is the
capability to automatically load tickets or value over the air using the mobile
network. Examples of NFC used in public transport.NFC applications have been
implemented in public transport programs in a number of countries, involving a
variety of ecosystem players and transport modes. This section briefly
highlights a few successful programs.
- London – Testing Transport Ticketing on NFC Mobile
Phones:
In 2007, a
trial of NFC for mobile transport ticketing and small payments was carried out
in London – the largest such trial up to that time. A collaboration that
involved the city’s transport authority Transport for London (TfL), phone
provider O2, Nokia, Barclaycard, and Visa,
- Germany – Touch&Travel Pilot Program:
Touch&Travel
is an NFC-based ticketing pilot project jointly conducted by Deutsche Bahn, the
German rail authority, and its partners Vodafone, Deutsche Telekom and O2
Germany, with support from industry as well as local transport companies. The
pilot project covers long-distance trains between the cities Berlin, Cologne,
Dusseldorf and Frankfurt, as well as selected regional trains, the metro and
trams in Berlin, and all means of transport -- including busses and a ferry --
in Potsdam. The projects started in
2008, and currently about 3,000 participants are using the service on a
frequent basis. To use the system, the customer taps his/her phone to the
Touchpoint at the departing station. The Touchpoint contains a passive NFC tag
that securely holds information about the location. The location information is sent by the phone,
via the mobile network, to the back end of the Touch&Travel system, which
returns a checkin record to the customer’s phone. This record is stored in the
application on the SIM card, and it can be accessed by an authorized conductor
with a mobile control device during the customer’s travel. At the conclusion of
travel, the customer needs to check out of the system, which he/she
accomplishes by touching a Touch point at the destination.
References:
http://www.nfc-forum.org
The original paper can be found at this link:
http://www.nfc-forum.org
—
No comments:
Post a Comment