Ticketing and Concessionary Travel on Public Transport - United ...

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services have not been put in place. Outside London, the regulatory framework has not
been sufficiently strong to require it to happen.
40. Conventional ticketing systems will still be needed to cater for those passengers for
whom smartcards are unsuitable—at least, for the foreseeable future. This applies in
London as well as elsewhere. 43 Differential pricing—discounts for Oyster users but fare
increases for those buying conventional tickets—are one reason why the Oyster card is
much preferred. A single Zone 1 Tube journey with a paper ticket costs £4.00, comparable
to the cost of a short black cab journey, whereas using Oyster it costs only £1.50. It is
reasonable to charge a modest differential to encourage uptake of smartcards <strong>and</strong> to
reflect any additional costs of issuing paper tickets, but those passengers who cannot or
choose not to opt for smartcards should not be heavily or unfairly penalised. The
Government must ensure suitable guidelines on differential pricing are included in
decisions on rail fares, rail franchises <strong>and</strong> other fare regulations.
The Integrated Transport Smartcard Organisation (ITSO) St<strong>and</strong>ard
41. As smartcards become more common it is obviously desirable that the products are
compatible, as far as possible. A common st<strong>and</strong>ard is a good thing because it provides a
platform for a range of products <strong>and</strong> uses <strong>and</strong> should reduce costs. The UK has developed
the ITSO st<strong>and</strong>ard which is intended to ensure that smartcards <strong>and</strong> smartcard equipment
are interoperable.
ITSO
ITSO (the Integrated Transport Smartcard Organisation) was founded in 1998 as a result
of discussions between various UK passenger transport authorities on the lack of suitable
st<strong>and</strong>ards for inter-operable smartcard ticketing. ITSO’s initial role was to create a
specification or industry st<strong>and</strong>ard to make interoperable smartcards a reality. It is
supported by the Department for Transport <strong>and</strong> its members include bus operators, train
companies, suppliers to the industry <strong>and</strong> local authorities. Originally a UK initiative, ITSO
has been adopted as an international st<strong>and</strong>ard. The scope of the organisation’s work has
spread beyond smartcards <strong>and</strong> ITSO has therefore been adopted as the official name <strong>and</strong>
not merely as an abbreviation.
42. The specification for interoperable, contactless smartcards that ITSO has developed is
intended to cover the entire system, from the dimensions of the smartcard itself, to how the
data are written to the smartcards <strong>and</strong> the communication protocols for cards <strong>and</strong> readers.
ITSO is a set of technical specifications <strong>and</strong> not a product or system in its own right. Two
different systems could be designed independently that were nonetheless both ITSOcompliant
<strong>and</strong> therefore interoperable. Agreements between all the parties (transport
operators, ticket sales outlets etc) covering customer service arrangements, charges,
allocation of revenues, liability, etc still need to be made for each ITSO product.
43 Q 288