A look at the Smart card use in the Transportation Industry
 
  Overview

Our study on ground transportation describes the data collection methods used for gathering and analysing the Automatic Fare Collection (AFC) markets for mass transit and highway toll systems in the USA. IeC analysed industry trends in AFC, regional transit groups, and standardization that will determine the future of AFC in the USA. The technology for mass transit includes the use of smart cards, new advances using Java, Open Architectures, and Asset Management and Maintenance Tools, and technologies related to Fleet Management, Automatic Vehicle Location devices, and passenger counters.

IeC has reviewed in detail information about the Electronic Toll Collection (ETC) for highway systems in the USA. Our study provides information about the ETC systems integrators in the USA and shows the market share for each of the major system integrators discusses the Automatic Vehicle Identification (AVI) systems providers. The report focuses on the ETC trends in the Global and North American markets with a brief discussion of the European markets and the technology used to implement ETC systems including the introduction of new tags, mobile e-commerce, the frequency changes and other ETC initiatives.

The contents of the transportation study report provide the following information:

  • Review of the standards used in Dedicated Short Range Communications (DSRC) and issues related to the integration of large scale systems including a discussion of the potential ETC partners for our client.
  • Use of the AFC for the mass transit market. The top 35 major transit agencies for bus rail and light rail are discussed. The results of a telephone survey of mass transit systems considering AFC are included as well.
  • Discussion of the USA system providers that support the AFC market and the results of the conferences held during the American Public Transportation Association (APTA) held a Fare Collection Workshop in March 2001.
  • Overview of the potential partnerships in the USA in the sector of mass transit.
  • Review of the major mass transit market place, the maturity of the industry, interoperability issues and the use of smart cards. The Electronic Fare Collection (ETC) is discussed with respect to the acceptance of the new systems, the ratio of ETC lanes to toll lanes and the changes in the industry in the previous two years.
  • Excerpts the Puget Sound Smart Card Program Request for Proposal, US Government Transportation Studies, a description of the MS Access Database and a Glossary of Transportation Acronyms.

* The summary of this report is for information only and not for sale.