GO Transit, the regional public transit service for the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area, has announced that it is discontinuing its monthly pass to make way for the new reloadable smart transit card, the Presto card. According to a spokesperson for GO Transit, the monthly pass will no longer be available after Jan. 1, 2013. […]

Barcelona taxi drivers can now accept contactless payments thanks to a recent agreement signed between “la Caixa” and the Metropolitan Taxi Institute. Some 5,000 taxis are expected to adopt the service over the coming months, installing new contactless card-reading terminals that allow taxi customers to pay with their contactless cards. The initiative comes under the […]

Finalists have been announced for the 2012 SESAMES Awards, with some 36 finalists narrowed down from the 475 submissions. The SESAMES Awards reward the most innovative professionals in the fields of smart cards, digital security, identification, secure transactions and contactless technologies. Competing companies range from start-ups to SME’s to the largest multi-nationals. Winners chosen will […]

The Open Standard for Public Transport (OSPT) Alliance has published Version 2.0 of the CIPURSE Specification, which defines the latest open security standards for next generation, advanced transit fare-collection systems. The new standard comprises a set of specifications for all security, personalization, administration and life-cycle management functions needed to create a wide range of interoperable […]

Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA) is taking steps to preppare for the arrival of its new contactless open fare system, according to The Inquirer. SEPTA has set up a laboratory for testing prototypes of new fare equipment at its Center City headquarters. Workers will soon begin installing new subway turnstiles that will allow customers to […]

Port Authority Transit Corporation (PATCO) is bringing an end to its year-long contactless credit and debit card pilot program at station fare gates, according to Progressive Railroading. Given the current rates of bank-card usage at PATCO stations, processing costs would exceed fares by more than 150%, agency officials estimate. During the pilot, PATCO averaged 3,000 […]

The UK’s Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM) has awarded IT services provider Atos a seven-year contract to manage it’s new smart ticketing program, reports Consultant News. TfGM is implementing a plan to introduce e-tickets and enable payment with contactless bank cards for its Metrolink tram network. The plan also anticipates being able to offer a […]

The Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority is in the process of upgrading its fare collection system to one that uses all contactless smart cards. Greg Garback, executive officer in the Department of Finance at the agency, discussed the impending changes at a meeting of the Government Smart Card Interagency Advisory Board. He addressed plans to […]