jonmorris wrote:

If every company could buy a working system 'off the shelf' then it
wouldn't be that much a problem to do. You don't have one person
(especially not a Government) trying to install it on buses, tubes,
trains, coaches etc - you have a recognised standard, then any number
of companies can produce the equipment to work with it. Every operator
can brand their own smartcards, but they are still interchangeable.

If the card system held credit, like Oyster, you could operate a simple
pay as you go system on anything - and why wouldn't that work abroad?
Well, apart from the currency conversion issue until we get the Euro.
Such a system could even be rolled out to taxis. Whoever debits the
card gets the money (less a commission fee) rather like a credit or
debit card (but unlike those, you can swipe in/out at gates etc).

Isn't this what ITSO is all about? Establish a standard for the cards
and the station hardware that any manufacturer can make, that will be
interoperable. The problem with Oyster is it is a proprietary system,
made by one consortium, so they are a monopoly supplier.

Effectively, it becomes an e-cash system. Funnily enough, Oyster had
visions of their card working for loads of things - which presumably
fell down when it became clear that outside of the transport industry,
there probably wasn't much interest in installing the equipment.

My understanding is that the Octopus card in Hong Kong, which is similar
to Oyster, is used for non-transport purchases like sweets and
newspapers. It may just take time, but I could imagine the kiosks on
underground stations being a good place to start.

Robin