[Article] 2011: Time to travel smart

[Kilocharlie]

From the Sunday Business Post http://archives.tcm.ie/businesspost/...story51281.asp

2011: time to travel smart
Sunday, August 29, 2010 - By Dick O’Brien
Anyone who has visited London recently and used its public transport system will be familiar with the Oyster card.

It allows travellers to pay their fares on buses, the Tube, Dockland Light Rail and Tramlink services with a single smart card.

Why isn’t there a similar card in Dublin? Plans for the introduction of a similar card were originally announced as far back as 2000 by former transport minister Mary O’Rourke.

The scheme has suffered a number of delays and setbacks along the way, but will be finally launched next year.

According to Tim Gaston, director of the integrated ticketing project at the Railway Procurement Agency, which is charged with overseeing its introduction, Dublin commuters will be able to pay for Dublin Bus, suburban rail and Luas services with a single smart card by the end of next year.

At this stage, all three major public transport providers in the city have their own smart card systems.

The Luas was first off the blocks, introducing its card in tandem with the launch of its tram services in 2005.

Last year, Dublin Bus moved over to the new technology, after facing increasing challenges in maintaining its old system of magnetic ticket reading machines. Irish Rail launched its smart card services earlier this year.

At present, none of the three systems is inter-operable.

For example, as reported last week, commuters who buy combined bus and rail tickets currently have to carry two smart cards.

Gaston said that this was an interim measure until the introduction of a single card.

The unified system will use a single card reader developed by the RPA. ‘‘We are providing it free to any transport operator that wants to join the scheme,” said Gaston. ‘‘The new reader has to also read the other cards because you can’t have transition overnight. It will handle existing Dublin Bus, the Luas, and Irish Rail cards.

That’s one of the things is that we have been working very hard on over the past number of years.”

Cards and readers are only one part of the equation. Another important element to the scheme is providing an infrastructure for commuters to buy and top up cards.

At present, Luas and Irish Rail customers can use ticket machines at stops and stations, and that will not change once the unified system is introduced. Dublin Bus is a little different, and the RPA has done a deal with payment provider Payzone, which has a network of shops around the country to allow passengers to top up their cards at their local newsagent.

Gaston said there would be no ‘‘big bang’’ launch of the scheme. Instead, various elements would be added during 2011 until commuters enjoyed a fully integrated service.

‘‘People hate it when project directors are vague about dates,” he said. ‘‘The answer is that it will be 2011 for sure. As to when - in our view, it will be when everything we do and test works exactly as we need it to do.

We are taking lots of small steps. If you look at successful schemes such as London, they did exactly that, making small changes and testing them extensively.”

Gaston said he anticipated that an integrated Dublin Bus and Luas card would be the first to launch. Initially an annual pass will be available and then more options will be progressively be introduced, such as an electronic purse, similar to the one currently available on Luas services.

‘‘In parallel, we are working with Irish Rail, Bus Eireann and the private bus operators to install equipment with the same reader.

Once we’ve got Dublin Bus and Luas running with the e-purse, we will then bring in Irish Rail and as many of the private operators as are ready to go. Bus Eireann is going to launch with the eastern region,” he said.

Initially, it appears likely that a similar fare structure will apply to the integrated card as currently applies to the three existing smart card systems.

However, Gaston said that the system had been designed with in-built flexibility and it would be possible to introduce further options once it is operational.

Most significantly, it can automatically choose the cheapest fare option, so deductions from a user’s electronic purse will be limited to the equivalent of the cheapest long-term ticket price.

Changes to fare structures are up to individual transport providers, and the RPA is encouraging them to move in this direction. ‘‘There are several reasons why it would make sense,” said Gaston.

‘‘When people have already spent money topping up a card, they are more likely to use the card, by jumping on a bus if it’s raining for example.

It also eliminates uncertainty and people know they will get the best value automatically. But it’s going to take time, and the public will have to bear with us as we work through it.”

Gaston said that there was potential to extend the integrated ticketing scheme even further.

Because the RPA developed its own card reader, it is not limited to any third party supplier, so can install the technology anywhere it wants.

Apart from talking to private bus operators, it is also considering extending the system to taxis, and is in early stage negotiations with the Taxi Regulator.

The new system will be the culmination of a ten-year process that was originally anticipated to take only two.

Originally expected to cost less than €30million, its budget has since grown to €55.4 million.

The RPA was only brought in to manage the project in 2002.

It suffered a major setback in 2006 when it had to cancel its procurement process after failing to find a suitable supplier - partly because of confusion created by the fact that some individual operators had begun sourcing their own smart card systems.

The RPA then went back to the drawing board, deciding that, since separate systems were already in development, it would instead focus on a way of joining them together.

Since then, Gaston said that things had largely proceeded as planned, although the deadline of 2010 has been pushed back to 2011.

‘‘We had a very clear outline as to how we wanted to deliver this and what the main components were,” he said. ‘‘That hasn’t changed, and the main blocks of that programme are largely as outlined at that stage.”

[Colm Moore]

"The RPA was only brought in to manage the project in 2002."

Only?