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Smartcard Ticketing Systems for More Intelligent Railway Systems Hitachi Review Vol. 60 (2011), No. 3 159 Smartcard Ticketing Systems for More Intelligent Railway Systems Yuichi Sato OVERVIEW: The smartcard ticketing systems whose scope is expanding Masakazu Ito across Japan are now starting to be used not just for public transport Manabu Miyatake ticketing services but also to provide users with an infrastructure that they use in their daily lives including electronic money and mobile services, credit card integration, building access control, and student identification. Hitachi has already contributed to this process through the development and implementation of smartcard ticketing systems for different regions and is now working on the development of systems that support the implementation of smart systems that underpin society and combine information and control to provide new social infrastructure for the foreseeable future. INTRODUCTION TABLE 1. Smartcard Ticketing Systems in Japan A number of smartcard ticketing systems have been Smartcard ticketing systems have spread right across Japan introduced in different parts of Japan since the over the last 10 years. *1 Service Smartcard Suica service of the East Japan Railway Company Operator commenced operation in November 2001. As of March commenced name* 2009, systems of this type had been introduced at November, 2001 Suica East Japan Railway Company Nagasaki Transportation Bureau of Nagasaki January, 2002 about 25 companies including both JR (Japan Railway) Smartcard Prefecture and others IC Saitama Railway Co., Ltd. (switched to Group and private railway companies (see Table 1). March, 2002 The East Japan Railway Company is the leader TEIKIKEN PASMO) Monorail April, 2002 Tokyo Monorail Co., Ltd. in this field and its aims in introducing the Suica Suica service include providing its passengers with greater July, 2002 Setamaru Tokyu Corporation convenience, facilitating cashless operation at railway December, 2002 Rinkai Suica Tokyo Waterfront Area Rapid Transit, Inc. stations, reducing the cost of terminals and other November, 2003 ICOCA West Japan Railway Company station service equipment, and improving security. August, 2004 PiTaPa Surutto Kansai Association Since then the company has progressively expanded August, 2004 NicePass Ensyu Railway Co., Ltd. the scope of both its own services and interactive December, 2004 ICa Hokuriku Railroad Co., Ltd. THE TAKAMATSU-KOTOHIRA February, 2005 IruCa operation of other railway operators’ systems while ELECTRIC RAILROAD Co., Ltd. and others also extending its services and businesses in other Kagoshima City Transportation Bureau April, 2005 Rapica ways including making the electronic money and and others mobile services more convenient to use. In accordance August, 2005 IC E-card Iyo Railway Co., Ltd with their respective regional, business, and other April, 2006 passca Toyama Light Rail Co., Ltd. Okayama Electric Tramway Co., Ltd. October, 2006 Hareca characteristics, other public transport operators have and others also used smartcard ticketing systems to provide the October, 2006 LuLuCa Shizuoka Railway Co., Ltd. infrastructure for expanding their businesses into November, 2006 TOICA Central Japan Railway Company distinctive fields such as allowing the cards to be used March, 2007 PASMO PASMO Co., Ltd. Hiroshima Electric Railway Co., Ltd. for the Shinkansen reservation service and tying-in of January, 2008 PASPY and others them with loyalty points systems run by retailers. May, 2008 nimoca Nishi-Nippon Railroad Co., Ltd. Smartcard ticketing services have a hierarchical October, 2008 Kitaca Hokkaido Railway Company structure made up of the smartcards (including mobile January, 2009 SAPICA Sapporo City Transportation Bureau smartcards) that are the basis of the service, railway March, 2009 SUGOCA Kyushu Railway Company station terminals such as ticket gates and ticket vending March, 2009 Hayakaken Fukuoka City Transportation Bureau machines, bus ticket reading machines, the relay February, 2011 manaca Tranpass IC Council * The smartcard names are registered trademarks, trademarks, or names of their respective operators. *1 Suica is a registered trademark of the East Japan Railway Company. : Systems in which Hitachi was involved. Smartcard Ticketing Systems for More Intelligent Railway Systems 160 servers that put together the data read by them, and the for reissuing lost cards. center servers that handle tasks such as managing the (2) Enhance security to prevent unauthorized use of smartcards and processing monetary balances. Hitachi forged, modified, or lost cards. has been involved in their development since the (3) Reduce costs by adopting smartcard technology to Suica service first started and been developing an ID cut maintenance costs and reduce the required number (identification) management system that is the center of equipment. system. Hitachi has also supplied ID management More recently, these have been complemented by systems as well as various peripheral systems and improvements to customer convenience and service equipment to other operators. through the addition of schemes such as allocating This article gives an overview of smartcard ticketing points based on the value used as well as electronic systems and describes the outlook and potential of money services for purchases at railway station shops, future smart systems that underpin society. convenience stores, vending machines, and other retail outlets; tie-ups with credit companies to provide auto- TRENDS IN SMARTCARD TICKETING charge functions that can automatically top-up the SF SYSTEMS (stored fare) in the smartcard; and mobile services The following lists the main objectives for provided via mobile phone. smartcard ticketing systems when they were first In addition, a wide range of other uses for the cards introduced. have been researched and implemented including (1) Improve convenience for passengers by allowing office access control, student ID, and tie-ups with bank fare payment at automatic ticket gates and a service cards or resident cards (see Fig. 1). Application Phase 1 Phase 2 Phase 3 Other transport operator Tie-up with other points Regional JR, public, and private railways Shop that accepts scheme operators, public Business electronic money sector businesses, etc. Regional JR, public, and private railways Shop that accepts Associated points Use of SF to pay fees electronic money scheme operator JR trains JR buses Use of SF for purchases Public or private railway company A trains Basic Public or private railway company A buses Convenience Convenience store store services Public or private railway company B trains Smartcard pass Public or private railway company B buses Railway station shop Airline Reissue if card Convenience for Shopping lost or damaged regional users center Shopping Car park center Compatibilities Other transport Associated credit operators card company Taxi Extended Auto-charge Shopping area services Increase number of locations where transport smartcards can be used, use Electronic money auto-charging to improve convenience. Transport Support for integrated eco-points tie-up multipurpose cards Associated mobile Leisure facilities Real estate company phone company Extended Mobile IC support services Tie-up with mileage and Detached Provide convenience by allowing loyalty points schemes Apartment house (condominium) use as a regional card to assist lifestyle of local residents. SF: stored fare JR: Japan Railway IC: integrated circuit Fig. 1—Service Expansion for Smartcard Ticketing Systems. The services that smartcard ticketing systems offer their users are expanding beyond public transport to encompass lifestyle infrastructure systems. Hitachi Review Vol. 60 (2011), No. 3 161 Center systems for smartcard ticketing system To the associated systems such as those Kitaca Revenue and settlement Center system for of credit companies, management system, etc. ID management transport operators from other regions, etc. Suica/Kitaca Suica/SUGOCA/ compatible nimoca/Hayakaken Relay server compatible (Company or bureau server, station or business server) … ICOCA Suica Data for reissuing cards and SUGOCA Suica/ICOCA/TOICA Single transaction data nimoca compatible preventing unauthorized use PiTaPa TOICA PASMO Hayakaken Station Business office ICOCA/PiTaPa Suica/PASMO compatible compatible Data consoli- dation unit Cash register Fig. 2—Compatibilities of Smartcard Ticketing. Smartcard ticketing systems are becoming increasingly compatible with each other throughout Japan. Railway station equipment Bus ticket machine Schemes allowing co-recognition of cards across different regions and transport operators have also been introduced, starting with co-recognition of Suica Smartcard and ICOCA*2 (West Japan Railway Company) in 2004 ID: identification which tied together East and West Japan and followed Fig. 3—Overview of Smartcard Ticketing System. *3 by ICOCA and PiTaPa (Surutto Kansai Association: Data on smartcard use (itemized transaction data) is sent from a consortium including private railway, tram, subway, terminals to the center system and the accumulated data used and bus operators from the Kansai region) in 2005; for reissuing cards and preventing unauthorized use. Suica and PASMO*4 (PASMO Co., Ltd.: a railway and bus operator in the Tokyo region) in 2007; Suica, ICOCA, and TOICA*5 (Central Japan Railway OVERVIEW OF SMARTCARD TICKETING Company) in 2008; Suica and Kitaca*6 (Hokkaido SYSTEMS Railway Company) in 2009; and Suica, SUGOCA*7 Smartcard ticketing systems consist of smartcards (Kyushu
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