Brussels rolls out Gemalto contactless transportation cards
02 September, 2009
category: Contactless, Transit
Brussels’ transport agency, theSociété des Transports Intercommunaux de Bruxelles (STIB), has chosen smart card company Gemalto to provide contactless transportation cards to its 400,000 citizens who ride the city’s subway, buses and trams.
Deployment for the MOBIB cards, which started in April, will eventually be extended to cover all of Belgium.
The MOBIB card is the size of a traditional credit card, is personalized with the holder’s picture and is valid for five years. The card allows users to save time when accessing public transport and topping up balances. Travelers can avoid lines at sales outlets and refill their cards at ticket machines or directly from the readers. Different transport formulas are available to address their needs: season tickets, 10-journey tickets or discount tickets. This multi-purpose card also gives access to public car parks. In the future, users will be able to access events equipped with MOBIB machines, such as stadiums, fairs and theaters.
Gemalto is involved in numerous ticketing projects across the globe and has already rolled out more than 120 million contactless travel cards in Brazil, Chile, China, France, Italy, Malaysia, Mexico, the Netherlands, Portugal, the United Kingdom and the United States.