TRANSIT COOPERATIVE RESEARCH TCRP PROGRAM REPORT 115 Sponsored by the Federal Transit Administration Smartcard Interoperability Issues for the Transit Industry TCRP OVERSIGHT AND PROJECT TRANSPORTATION RESEARCH BOARD 2006 EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE* SELECTION COMMITTEE* CHAIR OFFICERS David A. Lee Connecticut Transit CHAIR: Michael D. Meyer, Professor, School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta MEMBERS VICE CHAIR: Linda S. Watson, Executive Director, LYNX—Central Florida Regional Transportation Ann August Authority, Orlando Santee Wateree Regional Transportation Authority Linda J. Bohlinger EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR: Robert E. Skinner, Jr., Transportation Research Board HNTB Corp. Robert I. Brownstein MEMBERS PB Consult, Inc. Michael W. Behrens, Executive Director, Texas DOT, Austin Peter Cannito Metropolitan Transportation Authority—Metro Allen D. Biehler, Secretary, Pennsylvania DOT, Harrisburg North Railroad John D. Bowe, Regional President, APL Americas, Oakland, CA Gregory Cook Larry L. Brown, Sr., Executive Director, Mississippi DOT, Jackson Ann Arbor Transportation Authority Deborah H. Butler, Vice President, Customer Service, Norfolk Southern Corporation and Subsidiaries, Nathaniel P. Ford Atlanta, GA San Francisco MUNI Anne P. Canby, President, Surface Transportation Policy Project, Washington, DC Ronald L. Freeland Douglas G. Duncan, President and CEO, FedEx Freight, Memphis, TN Booz Allen Hamilton, Inc. Fred M. Gilliam Nicholas J. Garber, Henry L. Kinnier Professor, Department of Civil Engineering, University of Virginia, Capital Metropolitan Transportation Authority Charlottesville Kim R. Green Angela Gittens, Vice President, Airport Business Services, HNTB Corporation, Miami, FL GFI GENFARE Genevieve Giuliano, Professor and Senior Associate Dean of Research and Technology, Jill A. Hough School of Policy, Planning, and Development, and Director, METRANS National Center North Dakota State University for Metropolitan Transportation Research, University of Southern California, Los Angeles John Inglish Susan Hanson, Landry University Professor of Geography, Graduate School of Geography, Clark Utah Transit Authority University, Worcester, MA Jeanne W. Krieg Eastern Contra Costa Transit Authority James R. Hertwig, President, CSX Intermodal, Jacksonville, FL Celia G. Kupersmith Gloria J. Jeff, General Manager, City of Los Angeles DOT, Los Angeles, CA Golden Gate Bridge, Highway and Transportation Adib K. Kanafani, Cahill Professor of Civil Engineering, University of California, Berkeley District Harold E. Linnenkohl, Commissioner, Georgia DOT, Atlanta Clarence W. Marsella Sue McNeil, Professor, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Delaware, Newark Denver Regional Transportation District Debra L. Miller, Secretary, Kansas DOT, Topeka Faye L. M. Moore Michael R. Morris, Director of Transportation, North Central Texas Council of Governments, Arlington Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority Carol A. Murray, Commissioner, New Hampshire DOT, Concord Stephanie L. Pinson John R. Njord, Executive Director, Utah DOT, Salt Lake City Gilbert Tweed Associates, Inc. Pete K. Rahn, Director, Missouri DOT, Jefferson City Robert H. Prince, Jr. Sandra Rosenbloom, Professor of Planning, University of Arizona, Tucson DMJM+Harris Henry Gerard Schwartz, Jr., Senior Professor, Washington University, St. Louis, MO Jeffrey M. Rosenberg Michael S. Townes, President and CEO, Hampton Roads Transit, Hampton, VA Amalgamated Transit Union C. Michael Walton, Ernest H. Cockrell Centennial Chair in Engineering, University of Texas, Austin Michael Scanlon San Mateo County Transit District Beverly Scott EX OFFICIO MEMBERS Sacramento Regional Transit District Thad Allen (Adm., U.S. Coast Guard), Commandant, U.S. Coast Guard, Washington, DC James S. Simpson Thomas J. Barrett (Vice Adm., U.S. Coast Guard, ret.), Pipeline and Hazardous Materials FTA Frank Tobey Safety Administrator, U.S.DOT First Transit Marion C. Blakey, Federal Aviation Administrator, U.S.DOT Kathryn D. Waters Joseph H. Boardman, Federal Railroad Administrator, U.S.DOT Dallas Area Rapid Transit John Bobo, Deputy Administrator, Research and Innovative Technology Administration, U.S.DOT Frank Wilson Rebecca M. Brewster, President and COO, American Transportation Research Institute, Smyrna, GA Metropolitan Transit Authority of Harris County George Bugliarello, Chancellor, Polytechnic University of New York, Brooklyn, and Foreign Secretary, EX OFFICIO MEMBERS National Academy of Engineering, Washington, DC William W. Millar J. Richard Capka, Federal Highway Administrator, U.S.DOT APTA Sean T. Connaughton, Maritime Administrator, U.S.DOT Robert E. Skinner, Jr. Edward R. Hamberger, President and CEO, Association of American Railroads, Washington, DC TRB John H. Hill, Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administrator, U.S.DOT John C. Horsley John C. Horsley, Executive Director, American Association of State Highway and Transportation AASHTO Officials, Washington, DC J. Richard Capka FHWA J. Edward Johnson, Director, Applied Science Directorate, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, John C. Stennis Space Center, MS TDC EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR William W. Millar, President, American Public Transportation Association, Washington, DC Louis Sanders Nicole R. Nason, National Highway Traffic Safety Administrator, U.S.DOT APTA Jeffrey N. Shane, Under Secretary for Policy, U.S.DOT SECRETARY James S. Simpson, Federal Transit Administrator, U.S.DOT Robert J. Reilly Carl A. Strock (Lt. Gen., U.S. Army), Chief of Engineers and Commanding General, U.S. Army Corps of TRB Engineers, Washington, DC *Membership as of November 2006. *Membership as of November 2006. Smartcard Interoperability Issues for the Transit Industry TRANSIT COOPERATIVE RESEARCH PROGRAM TCRP REPORT 115 Smartcard Interoperability Issues for the Transit Industry ACUMEN BUILDING ENTERPRISE, INC. Oakland, CA IN ASSOCIATION WITH BOOZ ALLEN HAMILTON, INC. San Francisco, CA Subject Areas Public Transit Research sponsored by the Federal Transit Administration in cooperation with the Transit Development Corporation TRANSPORTATION RESEARCH BOARD WASHINGTON, D.C. 2006 www.TRB.org Copyright National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved. Smartcard Interoperability Issues for the Transit Industry TRANSIT COOPERATIVE RESEARCH PROGRAM TCRP REPORT 115 The nation’s growth and the need to meet mobility, environmental, Price $35.00 and energy objectives place demands on public transit systems. Current Project A-26 systems, some of which are old and in need of upgrading, must expand ISSN 1073-4872 service area, increase service frequency, and improve efficiency to serve ISBN-13: 978-0-309-09870-0 these demands. Research is necessary to solve operating problems, to ISBN-10: 0-309-09870-X adapt appropriate new technologies from other industries, and to intro- Library of Congress Control Number 2006938001 duce innovations into the transit industry. The Transit Cooperative Research Program (TCRP) serves as one of the principal means by © 2006 Transportation Research Board which the transit industry can develop innovative near-term solutions to meet demands placed on it. The need for TCRP was originally identified in TRB Special Report COPYRIGHT PERMISSION 213—Research for Public Transit: New Directions, published in 1987 Authors herein are responsible for the authenticity of their materials and for obtaining and based on a study sponsored by the Urban Mass Transportation written permissions from publishers or persons who own the copyright to any previously Administration—now the Federal Transit Administration (FTA). A published or copyrighted material used herein. report by the American Public Transportation Association (APTA), Cooperative Research Programs (CRP) grants permission to reproduce material in this Transportation 2000, also recognized the need for local, problem- publication for classroom and not-for-profit purposes. Permission is given with the solving research. TCRP, modeled after the longstanding and success- understanding that none of the material will be used to imply TRB, AASHTO, FAA, FHWA, FMCSA, FTA, or Transit Development Corporation endorsement of a particular product, ful National Cooperative Highway Research Program, undertakes method, or practice. It is expected that those reproducing the material in this document for research and other technical activities in response to the needs of tran- educational and not-for-profit uses will give appropriate acknowledgment of the source of sit service providers. The scope of TCRP includes a variety of transit any reprinted or reproduced material. For other uses of the material, request permission research fields including planning, service configuration, equipment, from CRP. facilities, operations, human resources, maintenance, policy, and administrative practices. TCRP was established under FTA sponsorship in July 1992. Pro- NOTICE posed by the U.S. Department of Transportation, TCRP was autho- The project that is the subject of this report was a part of the Transit Cooperative Research rized as part of the Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act Program conducted by the Transportation Research Board with the approval of the of 1991 (ISTEA). On May 13, 1992, a memorandum agreement out- Governing Board of the National Research Council. Such approval reflects the Governing Board’s judgment that the project concerned is appropriate with respect to both the lining TCRP operating procedures was executed by the three cooper- purposes