On Tue, 08 Jun 2010 22:11:33 +0100, "
wrote:

Any chance that Oyster could used on other bus networks in the country?

Very unlikely as the government has insisted that ITSO standards will
apply everywhere else in the UK. It is funding the work to allow the
Oyster system to read and process ITSO standard smartcards. In other
parts of the country operators, councils or ITA (Integrated Transport
Authorities - formerly PTEs) can choose to buy equipment that is
compatible with the ITSO suite of standards and in theory
interoperability should result. There is no funding to make Oyster
cards readable on buses in Birmingham or Nottingham.

I am a long way from being an expert on ITSO - I have yet to summon the
enthusiasm to read hundreds of pages of information - but the key seems
to lie in ensuring that the commercial ticket products are correctly
defined and that operators agree common product definitions and
programme their kit to recognise such things. I have yet to understand
where the "industry body / bodies" are going to come from to ensure that
a smartcard issued in Tyne in Wear by Go Ahead can also work on TfL
services, on Southern trains to Brighton and then a Brighton and Hove
bus. That example has 3 out of the 4 operators within the Go Ahead group
where there are definite commitments to do something but how are Go
Ahead going to make it work and then agree something with TfL?

I would dearly love to have a smartcard that could work nationally on
rail and on bus - I just fear it is one heck of a long way away from
fruition. I'd not be surprised to see funding for ITSO development get
killed in the spending review process on the basis that councils can do
it locally or else the bus groups will do it privately.
--
Paul C