Oystercard – Electronic Ticketing System

pic pull together plug-in Electronic sh ruboring pic Time is money, we be told, and increasing mobility is a way of saving snip, but how successful ar modern transport musical arrangements at saving snip? ( joke Whitelegg, Time Pollution, Ecologist 23, no. 4 1993) operate choice reasons pic If you live in capital of the United Kingdom, you exit probably know the garner observation fairly well. More or less everybody has one. You use it to pay for passenger car or tube travel top up some money on the plank and instead of perverting a paper just the ticket each(prenominal) time, secure place your government note on a yellow reader, and it will work out how much the expedition price and automatic each(prenominal)y deduct it from your tease.It does hold open a ton of time, and quite a bit of money too (tickets are cheaper on gather). When I first came to capital of the United Kingdom, I found extremely benefcial victimization the gather Card to move around t he city and realized how crucial is this receipts in order to pull out pack travel fast and saving time during their journey. I come from a place where the concept of Public channel is missed at all. We do not have underground trunks, buses are few and always late.In my hometown, Palermo, there are neither move nor boat run and if you want to cycling you have not to be busybodied bicycle paths are just in the historical centre, which is the car kingdom. Last but not least, people are not utilize to walk crimson if distances are very short. I have chosen to analyse the huitre Card as I honestly think it is a light, useful and well-designed service supporting another service, in other worlds an electronic ticketing serving the public transport system. Travelling around capital of the United Kingdom, I have been utilize my Student gather Card and I rarely had problems.When it has happened, I have always found punctual and kind help from the capital of the United Kingdom Und erground Staff. In a urban center as London is, where our journey is not an easy one, we need to go fast, simplifying all the touch points that allow us to buy a ticket, to board on a bus or to finally come impale home. My experience with this service has been pleasant and easy so far, and I guess close to of the people who live in London will agree with me. pic Piccadilly Circus picture taken by myself. Value proposition picProject gather Card creator Transys Year 2002 pic The gather Card, developed as divide of the ? 1. 2 billion Private Finance Initiative, was introduced for three reasons first, to reduce queuing at ticket offices during peak periods second, to make better use of ply and third, to reduce fraud. channel for London placed the contract with Transys, a consortium of specialist firms, for the provision of an advanced ticketing system. It was hoped that the gather Card would eventually replace most paper tickets.The pain broadsheet system went live in Novem ber 2002 when the pull together brand was launched and the first humors were made available to 80,000 staff. 1 Fraud, estimated to be trail at ? 43 jillion per year, was the main driver of the project. The main loss of revenue stemmed from nodes either travelling without tickets or using tickets not valid for the whole journey. other(a) countries have similar smart cards and some of them are used for other types of micro-payments as well as transport for example Hong Kongs Octopus card and Japans Suica card.At the moment about over 70 similar systems are runned across 5 continents. Since the gather card has been introduced in London, the advantages for the customer have been the stronghold and ease with which they stand get through barriers and on to the station, and also in the savings that they make through using the oyster Card. It keep currently be used on the London Underground, London buses and trams, Docklands Light runwayway and field Rail Services in London, p roviding seamless journeys across London. In future, the huitre Card will be linked to the provision of other services including shopping.This is a great example of advances in technology being applied to meliorate customer experience. 2 Core service pic What it is for? TheOyster Cardis a form of electronic ticketing used on public transport services within thegreater Londonarea of the United Kingdom. Where tin use it? Oyster Card is promoted by channelise for London and is valid on a number of varied travel systems across London, including o London Underground o buses o theDocklands Light Railway(DLR) o London Overground,trams o someriver boat services o mostNational Railservices within the London Fare Zones. How it looks like?A standard Oyster Card is a forbidding credence-card-sizedstored value cardwhich can hold a variety of single tickets, period tickets and travel permits which must be added to the card prior to travel. It is also acontactless smartcardwhich passengers must touch onto electronic reader when entering and leaving the transport system in order to validate it or deduct cash. pic pic Front and back of an early Oyster card. How it works? The way Oyster works is pretty simple you purchase the card, buy tickets or concessions either at terminals or online, because rustle the card at a reader when you take a train or bus trip.The Oyster card makes ticketing much more cost-effective for the consumer no paper tickets, no handover of cash, little to no interaction with ticketing staff, speedier processing when entering the train station or bus. For the transport authorities, there are cost savings and instances of ticket payment avoidance / counterfeit are greatly reduced pic Oyster Card aims to replace the paper Travelcard by storing period tickets electronically. pic pic Examples of card readers at London Tube Stations.The cards may be loadd in person from numerous sales points, byrecurring payment authorityor byonline purchase. Usage is encouraged by offering substantially cheaper pick outs on Oyster than payment with cash. 3 The card was first issued to the public in July 2003 with a control range of features and there continues to be a phased introduction of gain functions. By March 2007 over 10 million Oyster cards had been issued4, and more than 80% of all journeys on services run by Transport for London used the Oyster card. 5 Technology picThe Oyster card is acontactless smartcard, with a claimed law of proximity range of about 8cm (3inches). The scheme is operated byTranSys, and is based onNXP/PhilipsMIFAREstandard 1k chips provided by Giesecke & DevrientandSchlumbergerSema. 6 pic A damaged card, revealing the microchip in the lower undecomposed corner, and the aerial running around the edge of the card. MIFARE DESFireis now being rolled out on bracingly issued Oyster cards offset January 5th 2010. It is the same contactless smartcard asTouch n Gocard inMalaysiawhich is mainly used for tollway exe cutes. picThemalasian Touch n GoorTnGsmart card. The technology used for the Oyster card is known asradio-frequency identification(RFID), which is the same technology used in other electronic pass cards like JapansSuicafare cards and other cards used all over the world. 7 pic The japanese Suica( Suika )smart card. Suica Smart Card additional services in operation(p) lockers Airport check-in Coupon Bank account access. Advertising, label Identity and Analogies pic The London Tube Oyster card resides inside a plastic thingie that opens up, just like a clam (oyster) does.According to Nicole Carrol, thus of EDS, the name reflects the way the oyster protects a pearl in much the same way that the card protects the cardholders money. 8 pic picpic Oyster Current more popular Oyster card wallet By Ikea Yellow background, blue writing, unmistakably IKEA. But it is not justt the colours of the most popular Oyster Card which remarks the sponsor, it is also the sentence(s) on the leaflet Travel is a means to an end.Home. Fact behind the story Its the IKEA latest rivulet about putting the concept of HOME in the Lon dors minds. Two years ago, in point, Swedish home store Ikea is launching a ? 2 million outdoor campaign which included sponsorship of the Ideal Homes Show 2008. Since the Oyster Card has been introduced, several different type of wallets have been launched and produced much(prenominal) as Designer Oyster Card Wallets, Oxfam, Pimp My Oystercard (by Ben Jarvis and Tim Crook -badoyster, a Comp whatever that makes satirical oyster card wallets. 9), Virgin, and so on.Every one aimed to advertising or sponsoring a Brand or a Company just because a Oyster Card wallet is a good launch window. picpicpic picpicpic Exaples of Oyster card wallet. Adverstising Campaigns examples Agency M & C Saatchi Client Transport for London a. One poster was headlined Blue is the new pink. It showed a photograph of a one day Travelcard and an Oyster card. Text beneath stated F aster Smarter Easier Oyster. b. A second poster was headlined The correct change. It showed a photograph of an Oyster card. Text below stated Faster Smarter Easier Oyster. c. A third poster stated Did you know?Using Oyster is cheaper than buying daily single tickets. Ask our staff about Oyster Pre Pay. d. A fourth poster stated Still paying cash for single and daily tickets? Using Oyster Pre Pay is cheaper quick avoid queues more convenient no need to plan your journey in advance . 10 Features Registration and protection Oyster tease can be registered or protected for loss or theft. Full registration can be done at aLondon Undergroundstation, an Oyster Ticket spare (shop) or a Travel teaching Centre an Oyster registration form must be filled in (either at time of purchase or subsequently).Registration enables the customer to buy any product for the card and to have an after-sales service, and it protects against theft or loss. All adult Oyster Cards purchased online or by ph one are fully registered. (This does not include Visitor Oyster Cards. ) Oyster Cards obtained at post or shops cannot be fully registered online. However customers canprotect their Oyster Card online by setting up an Oyster online account and recording their card to that account. Sales Oyster Cards can be purchased from a number of different outlets in the London area London Underground or London Overground ticket windows o cash-only vending machines at some stations, they charge ? 5 for the card (? 3 refundable deposit and ? 2 worth of credit) o about 2,300 Oyster Ticket Stop agents (usually newsagent shops) o exacted National Rail stations which are also served by London Underground o Travel Information Centres o online via the Oystercard website o by telephone sales from TfL. 11 pic Oyster Card Machine installed at London Bridge station in December 2006. A refundable deposit of ? 3 is paid for all new Oyster Cards. 12 A registration form is provided at the time of purchase. If the form is not pass with flying colorsd the Oyster Card is circumscribe to Pay as you go and weekly tickets. Most National Rail stations and termini do not sell or top up Oyster card products TfL publish a list of the participating stations. At several main line termini, TfL run Travel Information Centres which do sell Oyster. describe Touch screen ticket machines report the last eight journeys and last top-up amount. The same information is available as a print-out from ticket offices, and also on-board London Buses by request.The counterbalance is displayed on some Underground barriers at the end of journeys that have caused a debit from the balance and can also be call for at newsagents and National Rail stations that provide a top-up facility. A complete 8 week touch history can be requested from Transport for London For registered and protected Oyster Cards, Transport for London can provide the history for the previous 8 weeks, but no further back. The Oyster website giv es lucubrate of the most recent journeys charged to pay as you go if and only if credit has been purchased online, but not for other journeys, or those paid for by Travelcard.Renewals When the Oyster Card Travelcard is due to expire, it can be renewed at the normal sales points and ticket machines at London Underground or London Overground stations, Oyster Ticket Stop agents, or some National Rail stations. Travelcards can also be renewed online via the Oystercard website, or by telephone sales from TfL users must then nominate a Tube station where they will swipe their card in order to charge up the card with the funds purchased. This can only be done the day after ordering. 13Travelcard renewals cannot be added from a reader on a bus.Recharging When the PAYG balance runs low, the balance can be excel up at the normal sales points or ticket machines at London Underground or London Overground stations, Oyster Ticket Stops or some National Rail stations. All ticket offices at stati ons run by London Underground will sell or recharge Oyster cards, or handle Oyster card refunds. However, some Tube stations are actually operated by National Rail train in operation(p) companies, and their ticket offices will not deal with Oyster refunds. DLR ticket offices do not sell any Oyster Card top-ups or handle refunds.PAYG funds and Travelcard season tickets (but not Bus & streetcar track Passes) can also be purchased online via the Oyster online website or by calling the Oyster helpline users must then select one station or tram stop where they will validate their card in order to load the funds or Travelcard purchased. This should be done as part of a normal journey to avoid the risk of paying an Oyster maximum fare. If the customer is purchasing PAYG, the top up will be at the gates of their nominated station, or Tramlink stop thenextday (ready for first train, provided they made the purchase before 11 PM the previous night).It will remain at the gates for 7 further d ays before dropping off the system. If the customer purchases a Travelcard season ticket, it will arrive at the gates, up to 5 days before the start date of the ticket and will remain there until 2 days after the ticket has started. If the customer does not make their pick up in time, it will take a further 14 days to refund automatically to the bank card they made the purchase with. 14Top-ups of this type cannot be added from a reader on a bus. Auto top-up Customers can set up and manage Auto top-up online for their subsisting Oyster Card.They register adebitorcredit card, make a payg top-up purchase (minimum ? 5) and select either ? 20 or ? 40 as the Auto top-up amount. Alternatively, a new Oyster card with Auto top-up and a mimimum of ? 5 pay as you go can be ordered via Oyster online. Whenever the pay as you go balance falls below ? 5, ? 20 or ? 40 is added to the balance automatically when the Oyster Card is touched on an entry validator. A light on the Oyster reader flashes t o indicate the Auto top-up has taken place and an email is sent to stick out the transaction. Payment is then taken from the registered debit or credit card.To ensure successful transactions, customers must record any changes to their billing address and update their debit or credit card details as necessary. pic Top up machine Touching in and out system picpicpic London Underground ticket barriers with yellow Oyster readers Travellers touch the card on a distinctive yellow circular reader (aCubicTri-Reader) on the automated barriers atLondon Undergroundstations to touch in and touch out at the start and end of a journey (contact is not necessary, but the range of the reader is only a few inches).Tram stops andbusesalso have readers, on the driver/conductors ticket machine and, in articulated buses, near the other entrances also. Oyster Cards can be used to store both periodtravelcardsand bus passes (of one week or more), and aPay as you gobalance. The system isasynchronous, the cu rrent balance and ticket data being held electronically on the card rather than in the central database. The main database is updated periodically with information received from the card by barriers and validators.Tickets bought online or over the telephone are loaded at a barrier or validator at a preselected location. picpicpic Oyster validators are placed at most entrances on London buses. Pay as you go system Oyster Route Validators pic The yellow symbol for Oyster validators. In addition to retentionTravelcardsand bus passes, Oyster Cards can also be used asstored-value cards, holding electronic funds of money. Amounts are deducted from the card each time it is used, and the funds can be recharged when required.The maximum value that an Oyster card may hold is ? 90. This system is known as pay as you go (abbreviated PAYG), because instead of holding a season ticket, the user only pays at the point of use. The use of PAYG differs across the various modes of transport in London, and passengers are sometimes required to follow different procedures to pay for their journey correctly. pic The pink symbol for Oyster Route validators In 2009, TfL introduced a new form of Oyster Card validator.These validators, distinguished from the standard yellow validators with a pink-coloured reader, do not deduct funds but are used at peripheral interchange points to confirm journey details. Oyster Pay as you go users travelling in the midst of two points without loss through Zone 1 are eligible for a lower fare, and from the 6 September 2009 they can confirm their route by contact their Oyster Cards on the pink validators when they change trains. By doing this, they can be charged the appropriate fare without paying for Zone 1 travel. pic A Thames Clipper river bus serviceAs with Underground, Buses, River Buses and DLR journeys, Oyster PAYG users on National Rail must swipe their card at the start and end of the journey to pay the correct fare. PAYG funds may also be u sed to cover any additional fares due from season ticket holders who have travelled outside the valid zones of their season ticket. Many large National Rail stations in London have Oyster Card-compatible barriers. pic National Rail ticket barriers with yellow Oyster readers pic Standalone Oyster readers provided at interchange stations between National Rail and the Tube. PricingThe pricing system is fairly complex, and changes from time to time. The most up to date fares can be found on Transport for Londons FareFinder website. To encourage passengers to switch to Oyster, payg fares (including Bus and Tram fares) are generally much cheaper than cash fares A cash bus or tram fare is ? 2, while the single Oyster fare is ? 1. 20, but capped at ? 3. 90 for any number of trips in a day. Using pay as you go, a single trip on the Tube within Zone 1 costs ? 1. 80 (compared to ? 4 cash), or from ? 1. 30 (? 3. 50 cash) within any other single zone. Penalty fares and maximum Oyster fareIn ord er to prevent misuse by a stated 2% of passengers, from 19 November 2006 pay as you go users who do not both touch in at the start and touch out at the end of theirrail networkjourneys are charged a maximum Oyster fare currently ? 6 (Mon Fri 0630 0930 & 1600 1900) / ? 4. 30 (at all other times) for most journeys, or more if the journey begins or ends at certain National Rail stations. Depending on the journey made, the difference between this maximum fare and the actual fare due is automatically refunded to the users Oyster Card upon touching out.Users must touch in and out even if the ticket barriers are open. At stations where Oyster is accepted but that do not have ticket barriers, an Oyster pass validator will be provided for the purposes of touching in and out. The maximum cash fare applies even if the daily price cap has been reached and does not count towards the cap. Maximum cash fares may be contested by telephone to the Oyster helpline on 0845 330 9876. 15 This involv es providing the Oyster Card number and the relevant journey details further journeys appearing on the card are helpful to validate the users claim.If the claim is accepted then the maximum Oyster fare minus the cost of the journey will be refunded. The customer should make the pick up as part of his or her regular travel pattern. This is because when they touch the reader with their Oyster Card, not only will the refund go on to the card, but a new journey will start. Oyster users who do not touch in or out when making a journey (in only for bus and tram journeys) may be liable to pay a penalty fare (currently ? 50) and/or reported for prosecution if caught by a revenue protection inspector. Issues proficient and security issues The system has not been without technical setbacks and criticisms. Passenger groups have expressed concern that buying single travel tickets with cash is far more big-ticket(prenominal) than using Oyster Cards, and it is suggested that this is putting many tourists off coming to London. Oyster has been promoted by Visit Britain and TfL, who sell them on their website and in their offices around the world. Despite this, visitors to London have often never heard of Oyster and its benefits, and are paying higher cash fares unnecessarily. 3 deposit is also seen as a checkout to tourists. other complication is the confusing terms of validity on National Rail services which serve many popular tourist sites on the outskirts of London. The system has been criticised as a threat to the privacy of its users. Each Oyster card is uniquely numbered, and registration is required for monthly or longer tickets, which are no longer available on paper. Usage data are stored both on the card and centrally by Transport for London recent habitude can be checked by anyone in possession of the ticket at some ticket machines.Privacy groups consider it a form of plug surveillance and are concerned with how these data will be used, especially given the in troduction of the London congestion charge by Mayor of London Ken Livingstone in February 2003. The police have used Oyster card data as an investigative tool, and this use is increasing. Between August 2004 and March 2006 TfLs Information Access and Compliance Team received 436 requests from the police for Oyster card information.Of these, 409 requests were granted and the data was released to the police. 16 The system has been criticised for usability issues in general system, website and top-up machine design. The most pregnant usability issue is that pay as you go customers who for whatever reason do not touch out at the end of their journeys will not be charged correctly. Users who have run up a pay as you go debt of as little as ? 1 are prohibited from using any period travelcards on the card until the debt is repaid.Another criticism is that problem diagnosis by London Underground staff is generally poorcitation needed as the system is new and complex, and the staff unfamili ar with all its workings and insufficiently trained this causes passenger frustration. On 10 March 2005 a software fault meant that the Oyster system was inoperable during the morning rush hour. Ticket barriers had to be left open and pay-as-you-go fares could not be collected. 17 On the day that the pay-as-you-go went live on all Oyster cards, some season ticket passengers were prevented from making a second journey on their travelcard.Upon investigation each had a negative prepay balance. This was widely reported as a major bug in the system. 18 However, the reason for the bug was that some season ticket holders, either knowingly or otherwise, were passing through zones not included on their tickets. The existing paper system could not prevent this kind of misuse as the barriers only checked if a paper ticket was valid in the zone the barrier was in. Touching Points and Journey Mapping pic Mapping the user journey from buying an Oyster Card, touching in at the barrier, catching t he tube, touching out, going to work and coming back home following the backwards corse.Highlighting all the touching points ticket machineoffice to purchase or top up the Oyster Card barriersvalidators in and out Tfl website Tfl green-line travel information center member of the staff for questions or problems crime department in case loststolen cards mailletter for student or photo cards pic Touching points pic pic Mapping the journey Surveys and Service Implementation pic stock http//www. transys. com/whatwedo/oystercardproject/results. php pic Source http//www. transys. com/whatwedo/oystercardproject/implementation. hp Conclusions In Principles of Marketing, Philip Kotler defines a service as any activity or benefit that one party can give to another, that is essentially intangible asset and does not result in the ownership of anything. 19 I, like millions of other people travel to and around London every week day for work and so have found the Oyster Card an invaluab le tool to help me in my journey. I think the main advantage of this card is that it means I can load a certain amount onto it for the month and then not have to worry about having actual cash on me to buy a new ticket each day.The Oyster Card can be carried in your wallet just like a credit card and so is small, handy and easy to use. The other great thing about the Oyster Card is that its cheaper to use per journey than if you buy a ticket with cash. Another thing I like is that if you swipe in and then there is a long delay on you line and you have to swipe right out again without going anywhere you can go back up to the ticket office and have them refund your money back onto the card. This however, must be done within 15 minutes of swiping out again otherwise they will not refund it for you.I also like the fact that if you journey is delayed for fifteen minutes or more (this happens quite a bit to me, sitting in tunnels for ? hour at a time) you can log onto the website given ab ove and ask for a refund. You can enter your Oyster Card details so they can see you are coitus the truth and then you will be sent a credit voucher in the post that you can then put back onto your Oyster Card to compensate you for your inconvenience. One of my criticisms though with the Oyster Card is that it does not always swipe first time and you are given a red light meaning you have to swipe your card again.This often causes backup at the gate, especially at rush hour in the mornings or evening. in general I find it is because you are standing too close to the gate and so if you back away a bit you should be ok to swipe after that. One thing I would urge is that you need to make sure that you swipe in and then remember to swipe out to complete a full journey and to avoid being charged a full amount. On one hand we can safely assume that such services are an optimized solution for our current need of travelling fast.On the other hand, we do not know the unpredictable conseque nces of our design actions. As John Thackara worn us, increases in mobility cause negative impact on the environment 20 and we use time gained by speed in order to travel further 21. 1 http//www. transys. com/whatwedo/oystercardproject. php 2 Bill Hollins http//www. designcouncil. org. uk/About-Design/Design-Disciplines/Service-design-by-Bill-Hollins/13-lessons-in-service-design/. 3 What is Oyster? . Transport for London. Retrieved 10 August 2008. 4Mayor to give away 100,000 free Oyster cards. Media Centre(Greater London Authority). 17 April 2007. Retrieved 8 October 2007. 5 New deal with Visit London and Superbreak makes Oyster even more convenient. Press Centre(Visit London). 28 August 2007. Retrieved 8 October 2007. 6 MIFARE. net rest period travel in Londons congested public transport network 7 Smart-card ticketing goes Underground. ZDNet. 20 October 2002. Retrieved 8 October 2007. 8 http//www. rfidnews. org/2002/12/01/a-tube-full-of-oysters-london-goes-contactless -A tube ful l of Oysters?London goes contactless . 9 http//londonist. com/2007/03/pimp_my_oysterc. php 10http//www. asa. org. uk/Complaints-and-ASA-action/Adjudications/2005/11/Transport-For London/CS_40497. aspx 11 Transport for London Oyster online shop 12 Changes to Oyster card deposit from 17 May 2009 Transport for London. Retrieved 27 September 2009 13 Transport for London. Oyster online help. Retrieved 17 November 2007. 14 Transport for London. Oyster online help. Retrieved 17 November 2007. 15 What should I do if I cant touch out at the end of my journey? . Transport For London helpsite. Retrieved 19 June 2008. 16 OysterCardRFI Letter from TfL in response to a freedom of information request 17 BBC News ? 50,000 lost in Oyster failure. 18 BBC News interrogation into Tubes Oyster card 19 PhilipKotler, Gary Armstrong 2005 Business & Economics- Chapter 9-pp 276. 20 John Thackara. In the Bubble Designing in a Complex World. The MIT Press, Massachussetts 2006. 21 John Thackara. In the Bubble Designing in a Complex World. The MIT Press, chussetts 2006.