Identity, Security, Payments, Biometrics, Smart Cards and Authentication News

Alternet expands its business into mass transit and prepaid fare-collection with Chinese technology partner

Tuesday, April 1, 2008

Alternet Systems has entered into a partnership with Tianjin IC Card Public Network Systems Co LTD. (TCPS). TCPS is a provider of technology for urban mass-transportation in China. The company specializes in prepaid fare-collection systems, fleet management, security and monitoring of buses, asset management and the integration with fuel dispensing technology.

The TCPS technology helps citizens replace the use of cash to pay for urban public transportation, with cards based on contactless technology similar to the one used to open doors in buildings. These cards store prepaid value that can be used to pay the transportation fare in a city bus or taxi.


The same technology can be used by a utility company to enable it’s customers to prepay for utilities by enabling the metering system to read the stored value card.

The new company will be a combined entity, formed by both TCPS and Alternet Systems. Henryk Dabrowski, Chairman and President of Alternet, will hold a permanent position on the board of directors. It will provide a platform for the prepayment of urban mass transportation systems and public utilities.

Alternet will provide business development, management and technology consulting and the regional distribution network to collect the payments. TCPS will provide its technology, operational experience and financing resources. The new company will be based in Miami, Florida.

The markets served will include North America, Latin America and the Caribbean, with immediate opportunities in Mexico, Colombia, Peru, Guatemala, El Salvador, the Dominican Republic and Panama. As of now, the target clients are governments, public utility companies and banks in those regions. [end] 

The Open Standard for Public Transport (OSPT) Alliance announced that austriamicrosystems has joined as a full member.

Since joining the OSPT Alliance, austriamicrosystems will have access to the CIPURSE open standard specification, leveraging its experience into embedded systems for mobile fare collection applications. The open standard promotes vendor neutrality and cross-vendor system interoperability with reduced technology adoption risks, higher quality and improved market responsiveness.

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Cubic Transportation Systems has introduced Nextaccount, an account-based open payment platform that offers travelers the convenience to use contactless bank cards, student IDs and mobile phones as their smart ticket, in addition to transit issued smart cards.

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Worcester Regional Transit Authority (WRTA) will later this month introduce the MIFARE-based Charlie Card system to patrons in Central Massachusetts, according to a local news report.

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New Jersey Transit’s use of NFC payments with Google Wallet has been an “overwhelming and resounding success,” according to NJ Transit spokesman John Durson.

Introduced on the NJ Transit network in October 2011, Google Wallet enables riders to purchase tickets with the tap of an NFC-enabled phone at New York Penn Station, Newark Liberty Airport’s rail station and on 7 city bus lines.

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survey conducted on behalf of MasterCard Worldwide by Harris Interactive reveals that U.S. transit riders are ready to kick cash to the curb in favor of contactless payments. Commuters also want to consolidate their mass transit tickets into one card that can be use across multiple transit systems.

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OC Transpo, Canada is planning a new smart card system to roll out this year that will help reduce lost revenues due to malfunctions with the transit’s electronic fare boxes, according to CBC News.

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