NATIONWIDE IMPLEMENTATION OF PUBLIC TRANSPORT SMARTCARD IN THE NETHERLANDS

NATIONWIDE IMPLEMENTATION OF PUBLIC TRANSPORT SMARTCARD IN THE NETHERLANDS Francis Cheung DVS Centre for Transport and Navigation Ministry of Transport, Public Works and Water Management The Netherlands 1. INTRODUCTION In December 2005, the public transport smartcard (OV-chipkaart) was successfully introduced in the Rotterdam region of the Netherlands. Since then, the smartcard can be used on the complete metro system operated by the municipal public transport operator Rotterdam Electric Tram company (RET) and on two bus lines operated by the regional company Connexxion in Hoeksche Waard and Voorne Putten. Since mid-2006, the smartcard can also be used on the railway line of Netherlands Railways (NS) between Rotterdam Central Station (CS) and Hook of Holland as well as on the metro system in Amsterdam operated by the municipal company GVB. Currently, over 1 million public transport smartcards are in the possession of the travelling public. At present, smartcard readers are being installed on the buses and on the trams in the main Dutch cities as well as on the buses in regional and rural transport. Many NS stations have already been equipped with the apparatus. The introduction of the gates on the Flevo line and the Schiphol route will be the next stage of development from NS. These are all part of the plan to introduce the smartcard in a step-by-step programme. The national strategy is to provide sufficient time for the operators to learn from practical experience in operating the new electronic ticketing technology and to allow the travelling public to adapt to the new fares system. The process has proved to be time-consuming. However, in doing so, the learning curve will enable a smooth transition from a paper-based ticketing system to progress to an integrated electronic system and, in the urban regions and rural areas, from zonal fares to distance-related fares. The new ticketing technology can provide detailed management information at a fraction of the costs that periodic questionnaire surveys incur. The distance-related fares will be less prohibitive for passengers who travel short distances, particularly those journeys that just cross the zonal boundary. The stated intention for all the parties concerned is to have the smartcard used on the public transport systems in the whole country in January 2009. That is the target. Lessons learnt in the Rotterdam and Amsterdam regions can help the operators to minimize the teeing problems when the system is gradually introduced in the remaining areas. The introduction of the smartcard has also been a learning process. When the smartcard is implemented nationwide, it will fulfil the ambition of the stakeholders and actualise the vision of the transport planners. The introduction of the strip ticket (strippenkaart) and star season tickets (ster-abonnement) system on 1 January 1980 replaced a system of local fares and local tickets with different prices and conditions for travel. The national system is unique and it enables the users to enjoy the benefits associated with fully integrated fares and ticketing for the whole country. Since then, the public can use the same strip ticket to pay for their trips when travelling alone or in a group together on bus, tram and metro anywhere in the country. The same strip ticket can even be used on some sections of the railway lines around the big cities. The strip ticket system is a system with fare zones having a diagonal distance of about 4.5 kilometres. The traveller is required to cancel the ticket by counting the number of zones plus one basic strip. Therefore, a journey not crossing the zonal boundary is equal to 2 strips (the basic fares) with validity for travel within 60 minutes on local and regional services. When the strip ticket is cancelled in a particular way, it can be used as a day ticket for unlimited travel. Interchange between modes and between services operated by different companies is possible within the given time horizon. The strip ticket has a major inherent weakness. The Transport Ministry has a comprehensive record of where tickets are sold and by what resale outlet; however, there is an absence of information regarding where the tickets have been used, by what mode, when and how. Such ridership information is beneficial for efficient planning of day-to-day operation and for effective marketing. To provide the necessary management Association for European Transport and contributors 2007 1

information, large-scale questionnaire surveys and passenger counts have to be undertaken at regular intervals. More important of all, as a result of the political decisions to liberalise the public transport market, to introduce competitive tendering of the network and to give public transport authorities (PTA s) greater freedom to decide on their own fares, there is growing urgency for reliable and up-to-date data on ridership at route level. For those authorities and operators that wish to introduce fares differentiation or to refine the fares structure, the ticketing system has to be modernised and up-graded. In 1992, the Commission Brokx cited the absence of an up-to-date and reliable management information system as a technical barrier to fares differentiation and a handicap to formulate effective marketing strategy to cater for the changing mobility needs of the passengers. There is an overall consensus amongst the stakeholders that efforts should be made to take advantage of recent technological developments in automatic fare collection (AFC) and ticketing system. The primary aims are to obtain comprehensive performance data and to provide summary records of usage in a management information system so that transport planners and operator can serve the travelling public in their region more efficiently. The policy goal is to enhance public transport usage by providing seamless travel and one-step shopping. The Dutch Parliament at the onset of the discussion on electronic ticketing agreed that individual operators would be able to determine their own fares level and structure on the condition that the same ticket or pass can be used anywhere on any public transport mode in the whole country. In short, the smartcard of standard format may have different outward appearances or in detailed design, the card technology with open architecture has to be overall compatible, thus retaining the feature of being a national card system. Another important novelty of the smartcard initiative for the Netherlands is that it is a commercial undertaking by the major operators who have chosen to work together to achieve the aim. The PTA s and the operators had undertaken a number of studies to investigate the technical feasibility and financial viability of a national chip card. On 20 November 1998 all the major operators (including NS) signed a declaration of intention to work together in a concerted effort to develop and to implement such a system. The Transport Ministry is supportive of such an action and has set up a task force to facilitate the efforts of the PTA s. The actual planning and management tasks rest with Trans Link Systems (TLS) which is a consortium set up by NS together with the municipal operating companies in Amsterdam (GVB), Rotterdam (RET) and the Hague (HTM) as well as the regional operator Connexxion. Together, these companies account for some 80% of all users of the public transport market. TLS is responsible for card issuing, system administration and back-office monetary settlement of the revenues generated from the smartcard operation in the public transport market. The Ministry s prime responsibilities are to ensure that the smartcard system will fulfil the basic requirements laid down by the Dutch Parliament and to finalise the date when the strip ticket will no longer be in use. At present, smartcard development and application are at different paces in different cities and regions. The most advanced stage of preparation can be seen in the city of Rotterdam. The rest of this paper will, therefore, concentrate on efforts and progress in Rotterdam. The structure of the paper that follows is divided into sections. Section 2 gives a description of the smartcard system in use in the Rotterdam region with information regarding how the smartcard works and what are the products available. Section 3 provides the results and findings of a specific study that investigated the perceptions and the requirements from the customers point of view including non-users and people with handicaps. The research results and findings had provided vital information for the Minister of Transport to recommend to the Dutch Parliament to endorse a GO decision in favour of nationwide implementation in 2009. 2. SMARTCARD SYSTEM IN ROTTERDAM (RET) How the system works in Rotterdam RET is the first operating company that has chosen to migrate towards a smartcard-based ticketing system at the earliest opportunity available. In common with other partners within the TLS consortium, the preference is for an electronic ticket based on modern day smartcard technology. On the basis of competitive tendering, the consortium East-West that is made up of Thales, Accenture and Vialis in partnership with MTRC and Octopus Association for European Transport and contributors 2007 2

Card Ltd. of Hong Kong has won the contract to supply, install and maintain the Dutch smartcard system. The primary aim of the project is to make travel by public transport services provided by the partner organisations within the consortium simpler, easier to understand, convenient to use and safer in the travel environment. The smartcard itself is of credit-card size with a built-in (non-visible) memory chip. The card system is based on contactless technology and fares collection is done automatically. For data protection, personal details and the travel data are subject to the Dutch Personal Data Protection Act. Without the prior permission of the cardholder, the information cannot be made available for other purposes other than what is originally intended and agreed. The system is simple to use. It is not necessary for the passenger to know the exact fare, the number of zones or distance travelled. At the beginning of the journey, the smartcard that serves as an electronic purse has to have sufficient balance or a travel product, such as a season ticket, on the card. When travelling with the smartcard, the cardholder only has to touch or bring the card in close proximity to the card reader. On the metro system in the Rotterdam region, the gate will open and the passenger can proceed directly to the platform. Rotterdam has chosen to introduce a closed regime for its metro system as an integral part of the municipal authority s overall strategy to combat fraudulent travel, to fight vandalism and to enhance public safety. Rotterdam has adopted a policy to give the travelling public a feeling of security in the travel environment. Research studies by NS had indicated that over 60% of recorded conflicts between staff and passengers leading to aggressive behaviour were closely related to incidence of people not having a ticket or not having correct fares. When the passenger leaves the metro station, it is necessary to check-out by touching the smartcard by the card readers installed at the exit gate. To ensure correct payment of fares and to encourage the passenger to follow the check-in and check-out (CI-CO) procedure, RET has chosen to have the AFC system to deduct 4 (roughly equivalent to the maximum fares for travel within the RET metro system) every time when the card is checkedin. In the case of the metro system in Amsterdam, the normal maximum fare at 2007 prices is 2.50. When the card is checked-out, the apparatus and the computer software in the back-office will calculate the correct fares for the journey made and refund the amount if the trip cost is less than 4. If the passenger forgets to follow the check-out procedure, maximum fare has already been paid and the operator does not loose its revenue. Should there be disagreements regarding the functioning of the card reader or/and the amount of fares charged, the staff at the station or at the gate will provide assistance. There are also card readers at the metro station that will give information on details of the last 10 transactions in a paper print out at no cost. Another attractive feature to provide ease of use and convenience for the passengers is the auto-loading facility that TLS had reached agreement with the banking sector. First of all, the passenger needs to be in possession of a valid personalised smartcard. The passengers can then choose to enter into a business agreement with their bank for auto-loading. When the remaining balance on the smartcard is low, say less than 5, an agreed amount of money fixed at 10 or 20 will be automatically transferred from the holder s bank account to the smartcard such that the cardholder has no anxiety for not having sufficient money in the balance of their electronic purse to pay for the trip. The maximum amount as a balance in the smartcard at present is 30. This serves as a disincentive to reduce fraud and to limit the amount of loss for anonymous cardholders (see section below). Type of Strip Tickets and Smartcards Available Under the on-going national system with the strip ticket for single journeys and the star season ticket for frequent travellers, the national fares scale is in force. Ordinary passengers use a 15-strip ticket that costs 6.80 or a 45- strip ticket that costs 20.10 in 2007; both tickets are printed in blue. Elderly people with 65 Plus Pass and children between 4-11 years of age are entitled to travel with reduced fares using 15-strip ticket in red colour, currently priced 4.50. Children under 4 are free. Season tickets in the form of a pass are divided into weekly, monthly and annual. The annual season is roughly equivalent to the price of 10 monthly season tickets. Season passes have also full fares and reduced fares. Strip tickets can be purchased not only at stations but also from kiosk, post office, department stores, supermarkets, corner shops and tobacconists. Season tickets are available only from Customers Service Centres, main bus stations and at post offices. A separate photo card is Association for European Transport and contributors 2007 3

also issued to season ticket holders as an identity card. Annual season tickets and in some cases monthly passes can be booked and purchased via the Internet website of the operating company. In the case of the smartcard, they have to be purchased in advance and the smartcard must have a positive balance or a travel product. There are 3 types of tickets. Anonymous: The card is not registered to a single user hence it is transferable. It can be readily purchased over the counter of Service Centres or from ticket vending machines at stations with cash, PIN/chip-knip (both are a form of electronic money transfer offered by Dutch banks) or credit card. However, if the card is lost or stolen, the balance amount on the card is not refundable. The card has a one-time charge of 7.50 and is valid for 5 years. The holder can only load it with cash and use it as e-purse and with train tickets, but cannot load season tickets onto this card. Personalised: This card is suitable for frequent or regular users. It is personalised with a passport photograph on the card face. Having known name and address details will enable the passholder to claim refund when the card is lost or stolen. The remaining balance on the card will be reimbursed after administrative charges are deducted. The one-time purchase cost is also 7.50. The holder can use it as e-purse or with a travel product e.g. season ticket or with train tickets. To benefit from the age-related discounts given by the operator, one needs a personalised smartcard as ID card. Paper Smartcard: This is the simplest form that is suitable primarily for incidental visitors, on single journeys or as a one-day travel pass and, in some cities, it is also possible to combine the journey and bring along a bicycle at additional cost. It is disposable but the unit cost of travel per trip is higher than that charged by anonymous or personalised smartcard. They can be purchased on ticket vending machines located at stations or directly from the ticket office. The disposable card already carries a travel product To summarise, the basic price of the anonymous and personalised smartcard costs 7.50 and valid for 5 years. The balance that can be loaded on the card at this moment has a maximum of 30. The card can be purchased at the main stations or ordered via the website. To encourage the use of the smartcard, RET with the support of the Transport Ministry has initiated publicity drive by giving the first waves of buyers with a substantial discount, at a price of 3 for anonymous smartcard and 1.50 for personalised card. More recently, RET issued free personalised smartcards for registered elderly citizens who are Rotterdam residents. The campaigns had been successful to entice the passengers to purchase and own a smartcard even though they do not need to use them right away. For monthly and annual season ticket holders, the personalised smartcard will be issued fee of charge after paying for the price of the season pass. Large-scale purchase and usage will mean creating a critical mass to test the robustness of the apparatus, to ascertain the efficient working of the gates at the metro stations and to determine the accuracy of the software system in the back office to provide accurate and transparent information on fares charged. The smartcard is the new way of paying for travel on the public transport system. In the Rotterdam region, passengers can choose one of the two products made available, namely by purchase of a travel product (e.g. single ticket or season pass) or as an electronic purse with a sum of amount in euros on the card for travel. Loading is possible at the special ticket vending and add value machines or at the service counter. Having completed the journey or if the date of a product (like a weekly season) expires, the travel entitlement will be deleted from the smartcard. There is no charge if one CI-CO at the same station is no more than 20 minutes so that people can accompany passengers to say goodbye or to help with the luggage. The maximum travel time one may travel on each single journey using the smartcard is 120 minutes. After the permitted time allowances, the price for the trip and an additional amount equivalent to the maximum fare in that region will be charged when the cardholder checks-out at the station. With a personalised smartcard, when the card is reported stolen or lost, the relevant information will be recorded in a blacklist such that any subsequent use by non-authorised person will be blocked. The e-purse on the Rotterdam card can also be used in other areas where smartcard technology has been introduced and in active use. The NS Extension ticket is available as a supplement to a NS Association for European Transport and contributors 2007 4

day ticket, monthly travel pass, monthly season ticket and annual season ticket. This is particularly useful for passengers when their work journeys involve trains and bus, tram or metro travel. Experience in other cities that have already introduced similar card technology show convincingly that the e- payment method has many potentials. In the future, it will also be possible to use the same card technology to pay for other transport services or extended as a means of payment for small sum transactions. Initially, in the case of the Netherlands, the additional possibilities will be transport-related services to become a Mobility Card for bicycle hire, car parking (Q-park) or even car hire (Greenwheels). Some managers would like to see the product by be extended for purchase of products available at the stations and stops such as newspaper, coffee, soft drinks, etc. The possibilities are plentiful. However, it is vitally important in the beginning to concentrate on the core business and make the new means of payment successful in operation and acceptable to the public. 3. STUDY ON PASSENGER PERCEPTION AND PUBLIC ACCEPTANCE Rotterdam is the pioneer in the introduction of the new method of travel and payment. Substantial experience has been built up since its official introduction on 16 December 2005. To facilitate the Government to make a decision on nationwide implementation, a watershed was benchmarked on the political agenda for a Go/No Go decision in the Dutch Parliament in mid-2006. Before that critical moment, the stakeholders and the partners in the smartcard project felt strongly that studies should be undertaken to provide up-to-the-minute information on product development and on public perception. For the Transport Ministry, the additional insights gained would provide the Minister to take decisions on scaling-down the strip ticket system and to make available a budget for the migration from a dual-system when both fares and ticketing systems are in parallel use to a stage when smartcard is used exclusively. The field tests and actual experience in Rotterdam would enable the Ministry to determine whether the new technology and the computer software would be adequate in serving the needs of the public and sufficiently reliable for financial accounting and settlement purposes. The following is a description of one specific study with the twin objectives to provide clear answers on two questions: 1. How acceptable is the smartcard in the Rotterdam region from the passengers perspective? 2. Is the system sufficiently user friendly even for the vulnerable passengers and senior citizens? AVV Transport Research Centre (which is the research department within the Transport Ministry and the forerunner of DVS Centre for Transport and Navigation) was given the tasks and responsibility to design, supervise and co-ordinate the research studies. AVV worked in close collaboration with the bureau De Boer & Larsen to produce a report entitled The Opinion of Rotterdam Passengers (Het oordeel van de Rotterdamse reiziger). On the first question regarding perception and passenger acceptance, the study was in 3 parts: Research into Passenger Satisfaction, respectively on services by RET and Connexxion Communication Monitor, with respect to RET, Connexxion and NS Consumer Panels On the second question of impacts and user friendliness for vulnerable groups and elderly users, field tests were being undertaken to determine how people with mobility limitations (including those in wheelchairs) and senior citizens had experienced the smartcard on the metro system and on the buses. Passenger satisfaction: The actual evaluation study was undertaken by the marketing bureau TNS NIPO using telephone surveys in the period 4 to 25 April with 939 respondents out of a population of 30,000 cardholders at that moment. The respondents must be actual active users of the smartcard. Being in possession of a smartcard would not be able to represent adequately the view of regular users. Stratified sampling was used to ensure the population in the sample was representative. Smartcard holders in the Rotterdam region were asked about their experience in using the card and the results were then compared with those findings based on results from earlier passenger satisfaction studies undertaken respectively by RET and Connnexxion (the 0-situation). Communication Monitor: Data from this source was used primarily to establish the views and reactions of the non-users. The Monitor has been set up by NS, RET and Connexxion jointly in order to determine how effective had been the communication strategy. Aspects such as public awareness, attitudes towards the new product and their comments were investigated. At the time of the study, 4 surveys had been undertaken with the Association for European Transport and contributors 2007 5

first survey in early 2004 and the last in late 2005, roughly at 6 months interval. The 4 th survey had 900 respondents with comprehensive data out of the interviews. Consumer panels: To fill in the knowledge gaps in the quantitative surveys, actual experience of the passengers invited to participate in the tests plus qualitative results of research under 175 RET passengers and 100 Connexxion passengers had been included to double-check findings from the other part-studies. Tests with Persons having Mobility Limitations: Qualitative research by means of group discussions, observations under trial and field conditions and in-depth interviews. In the Parliament with the assistance of research information plus evidences of support provided by the operating companies, the Minister has given the green signal for a GO decision with the expectation that further system refinements will enable a nationwide implementation of the smartcard technology on 1 January 2009. The results and findings from the different studies on the general opinions of the passengers on different aspects of using the smartcard system in the Rotterdam region are presented below in summarised form. 1. On a scale of 1 to 10, all kind of users in Rotterdam gave ridership on public transport an average score of 6.4. For those who had travelled both on the metro and bus, the score was slightly better 6.6 whereas those who used metro only had a score of 6.4. With smartcard users, 75% stated that they were satisfied (higher than 5.5) with 60% giving a score of 7 and higher. 25% that expressed dissatisfaction had some kind of problems with incorrect functioning of the apparatus when check-in or check-out (28%) and 24% reported incorrect fares being charged. 2. With regards to the system features, smartcard users perceived the card being easy to use and worked well (honest with the transaction). 80% was convinced that the new payment system would provide ease and convenience. This view applied as much to buses (7.3) as to metro (7.4) passengers. The direct connection of the smartcard technology with entry and exit gates and the question of travel safety was less convincing. Only 40% was of the opinion that the smartcard in a closed regime would create a safer travel environment. 3. Almost 50% of the non-users were in agreement with the vision that the use of the smartcard would make travel easier. The users gave this aspect 80% agreement. This was not surprising when the smartcard users had chosen freely to switch to the new method. They were the early adaptors with preference for the simplicity and ease associated with e-technology. On reliability, non-users could not give an opinion. 4. Some 50% regarded the smartcard as an improvement on the paper tickets. And if the smartcard was universally introduced and used overall, over 80% would view the situation as an improvement. Almost 90% remarked that the introduction of the smartcard was a positive and sound development. 5. Results were also obtained on 11 different aspect of the smartcard when in use (see figures 1 and2). a. General convenience 7.3 bus, 7.4 metro b. Ease when checking-in 7.2 bus, 7.6 metro c. Smooth boarding & free flow by bus 7.1 d. Price information in the course of bus journey 6.3 e. Clarity of information by the transaction overview 6.3 f. Ease of adding money on the card by metro system 6.4 6. Incidental passengers and youth gave a higher score (7.8) and more positive opinion on the smartcard. Passengers between 25 and 60 and anonymous cardholders gave a lower score generally. The elderly gave higher score for the ease in card purchase, price information obtained when travelling and quality of information related to smartcard. The last was largely the result of publicity rounds in retirement homes. 7. Studies on general accessibility and ease of handling at the metro gates under a closed regime were undertaken. On the metro, users in wheelchair and elderly with mobility difficulty had experienced no Association for European Transport and contributors 2007 6

problem. Their doubts and anxieties were resolved by obtaining clear instructions with tips how to use the system. Personnel could be found at stations to give assistance if called for. The blind and people who did not see well had some difficulty. It would be advisable to have agreed procedures so assistance could be asked in advance and that the apparatus will be installed and arranged in an easily recognisable format at all stations. Passengers with small children, prams, pets, baggage or bicycle did not find it any more difficult than normal stations if they were given tips and the stations have clear posting. 8. On the buses, the blind, people with vision problem and senior users would have to learn how to undertake the check-in and check-out procedure to ensure correct transactions with the card readers. Conventional ticket control, payment and purchase of 2-3 strip ticket are performed by the driver. Smartcard handling by passengers themselves will mean additional self-handling. It was also noted that if the card readers can read the card without having to take out from the wallet or purse, it would be an advantage for the elderly. Figure 1 Public Opinions on Aspects when travelling with Smartcard Ease of use Ease of check-in Smooth of passenger flow when checking in Ease of check-out Smooth of flow when checking out Figure 2 Public Opinions on Aspects regarding Services and Information provided Ease of purchase Ease of money down-loading Fare information during travel Feeling of Security & safety Quality of information Clarity of transaction overview Association for European Transport and contributors 2007 7

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