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

Ev 128 Transport Committee: Evidence
— It facilitates better service planning <strong>and</strong> optimisation.
— It reduces operating costs in certain circumstances.
— Stolen or fraudulent cards can be hot-listed <strong>and</strong> prevented from use.
— It enables accurate apportionment of revenue between diVerent operators <strong>and</strong> modes of transport.
— The smartcard increases passenger flows through gated stations <strong>and</strong> on buses.
— It enables Local Authorities to provide concessionary travel to students <strong>and</strong> pensioners etc <strong>and</strong> to
obtain accurate usage information as a basis for reimbursing transport operators.
— Reducing cash transactions <strong>and</strong> increasing electronic payment methods can achieve significant
savings. (Cash h<strong>and</strong>ling is costly <strong>and</strong> more open to fraud). Reduced cash h<strong>and</strong>ling also provides
better security, particularly for bus operators.
— Businesses can be incentivised to provide employee passes for business use, <strong>and</strong> receive monthly,
itemised billing.
— Smartcards provide opportunities for non-transport related, secondary revenue generation e.g.
combined travel <strong>and</strong> theatre / sports admission tickets, parking, congestion charging payment, etc.
5.7 It has taken political leadership from Transport for London (with the oVer to fund the installation
of Oyster PAYG equipment) to get the TOCs operating in London to accept Oyster PAYG on their services.
This shows the importance of having a centralising, co-ordinating integrator.
Revenue Protection <strong>and</strong> the Powers of Ticket Inspectors
6. Is the legal framework within which ticket inspectors function appropriate?
7. What appeal mechanisms exist for passengers, <strong>and</strong> are they adequate?
8. Are the rights of passengers <strong>and</strong> the powers of ticket inspectors well-balanced?
TranSys is not qualified to respond to these questions.
9. Do operators of public transport take adequate measures to protect fares revenue?
The extent of fare evasion is extremely diYcult to quantify <strong>and</strong> the incremental business case for gating
additional stations cannot always be made within the duration of a franchise. A national integrated ticketing
system would perhaps enable better revenue capture overall by the extension of gating to more stations as
a result of a longer term holistic view being taken rather than an incremental business case for each station.
Clearly on trams <strong>and</strong> buses it is not cost eVective or it is physically impossible to provide suitable automatic
entry <strong>and</strong> exit gates <strong>and</strong> in these circumstances revenue protection personnel need to be employed, but there
are limitations as to their capabilities to restrict fare evasion during the morning <strong>and</strong> evening peaks.
<strong>Concessionary</strong> Fares—the Right Strategy?
10. Is the Government’s concessionary fares strategy, including the proposed scheme for concessionary bus
travel, adequate?
11. Are concessionary fares schemes suYciently integrated across diVerent modes of transport <strong>and</strong> diVerent
geographical areas?
TranSys is not qualified to respond to these questions.
March 2007
Supplementary memor<strong>and</strong>um from TranSys (TPT 19a)
ITSO <strong>and</strong> Oyster—Technical Implementation <strong>and</strong> Issues
Introduction
The PRESTIGE Project contract was signed on 14 August 1998 after years of investigatory trials <strong>and</strong>
negotiations. ITSO was formed in December 1998 to develop a specification for an interoperable smartcard.
ITSO comprises authorities <strong>and</strong> operators of each public transport sector, as well as system <strong>and</strong> equipment
suppliers <strong>and</strong> is supported by the Department of Transport (DfT). Its primary objectives are to:
— Develop a specification for an interoperable public transport smartcard across the UK.
— Encourage implementation of the specification.