Smartspace Software Share Discussion Threads

[garth] 01/2/2007 16:38

Bonty,

I'll dig out the link but for the large quantities involvd here it would be £50-£60 an ISAM (so how many buses, ticket gates, ticket sale points, back offices, libraries, school meal points etc)

G.

[bonty] 01/2/2007 15:41

Garth - Do you know the approx price of an ISAM, or the profit per ISAM for SMRT? Then we could all start doing imaginary profit projections a la TRT. (Sorry if I've missed it somewhere earlier in the thread).

[tkon] 01/2/2007 15:25

wrong thread

[rambutan2] 01/2/2007 13:06

just need richard branson to join in and then i'll be able to use my oyster card on a seemless journey (bus, tube, train, plane) to enjoy a spot of winter sun somewhere exotic - a carbon deduction will be automatically made via itso of course!

[garth] 01/2/2007 12:50

Further confirmation below on the conversion of Oyster gates to take ITSO (each will require an ISAM from SMRT) and of the national UK roll out this year of concessionary ticketing for pensioners on bus travel (using ITSO - therefore requiring and ISAM from SMRT/Ecebs in each ticket reader in each bus). Does anyone still need convincing? (I might just go quiet for while and let our seller take the price down so I can get some more on the cheap - but as I last added around 2.6p they'd have quite a way to fall to bring my average down.....)

Simple things on the cards
by Michael Kenward

16 October 2006

The recent World Congress on Intelligent Transport Systems showed off a lot of fancy systems that could make a big difference in the future of transport. But for me, thanks to Professor Phil Blythe from Newcastle University, it was the simple bus pass that turned out to be one of the more interesting bits of technology on show at the London event.

Local authorities were among the dozen or so organisations that clubbed together under the ITSO umbrella on a stand, dubbed ITSO Street, to show off smart bus passes. ITSO, which doesn't seem to stand for anything, is effectively a standards outfit and some of the work behind those standards came from research in Professor Blythe's group at Newcastle, which explains his enthusiasm for the venture. As the organisation's web site puts it, ITSO came into being in 1998 "as a result of discussions between various UK Passenger Transport Authorities concerning the lack of suitable standards for interoperable smartcard ticketing".

Interoperable is the key word here. In the pre-ITSO days, bus companies used proprietary systems that simply couldn't work with the bus routes in the next-door authority; nor could they grow easily to do new things.

The point of ITSO's stand was to show how the technology could assist in the roll-out of free bus passes for 'seniors'. Today's seniors are restricted to their home county if they want free bus travel. Come 2007, your bus pass will work throughout the UK. But how will each authority know how much it owes to the various bus operators?

ITSO Street brought together suppliers and users of these systems. Along with local authorities there were IT businesses, kit and card makers and a bank, showing the complex chain of events needed to develop and support travel cards that can work in different parts of the country, perhaps even the world, in an industry as complicated as transport. A diligent visitor to the ITSO stand could try out all the bits and pieces without having to set foot on a bus.

For example, Helen Mitchell, Travelcard Development Officer for Cheshire County Council, was keen to talk about the ever-falling cost of the cards that work in these systems, down from pounds to pence. At that price you can offer cards to visitors who are in town for just a few days. Indeed, Ms Mitchell explained that you can use your 'bus ticket' in Cheshire – they call it a Travelcard – to get into various tourist attractions.

Maybe London will catch up one day. After all, anyone who lives there can't have missed the massive publicity for the Oyster system: like the congestion charge, another boon for London's travellers. I have never got round to buying an Oyster card for my relatively rare forays onto London's buses and tube trains. This is mostly because Transport for London (TfL) doesn't have a simple system that lets me feed a credit card into a hole at, say, my local railway station and get an Oyster card out. You can buy on-line and receive a card by post, but that requires forward planning, not something that many people - me at least - want to do just to get a bus ticket.

We really need a countrywide card that works on buses from Land's End to John O'Groats. Then I can use my senior bus pass, when I get one, to travel from one end of the country to the other on the buses without having to pay a penny, even though it might take a few days to plot a route, let alone navigate it.

Thanks to TfL, which handed them out to everyone who paid to go to the World Congress, I now have an Oyster card. Peter Stoddart, who knows more about ITSO than is good for a person after a decade or so spent helping to make it happen, tells me that TfL plans to upgrade all Oyster ticket barriers to ITSO standard. He also says that "There has been a small pilot in Brentford where the ITSO application was loaded onto an Oyster card and used by students." Looks like I had better work out how to use up my card before 2008.

[garth] 01/2/2007 12:31

Just a reminder that the offer of £20m for ticketing equipment is part of a wider deal in which TfL will also work with DfT on dual capability ticketing equipment. So this news is good news for ITSO and therefore for SMRT. It should mean orders for ISAMs flowing through 2007-9 and gets the back office equipment in place for continued roll out of ITSO by ATOC members.

New Oyster card deal

On 10 May, the new Transport Secretary, Douglas Alexander and I announced that a deal had been struck that will help London's rail passengers get the full benefit of Oyster cards and lay the foundations for a nationally accepted smartcard ticketing scheme.

Transport for London has agreed to pay for Oyster validation equipment to be provided for all London rail stations in Zones 1 - 6. This is a significant breakthrough that offers train companies the opportunity to accept Oyster pay-as-you go products on their services.

Transport for London has also agreed to work with the Department for Transport to ensure that all Oyster equipment is capable of accepting other smart cards. These are currently under development for use on public transport across the country by the Integrated Ticketing Smartcard Organisation (ITSO).

This is a further step towards the wider introduction of smart ticketing technology outside of London. It will allow the development of fully integrated ticketing systems in and beyond the capital, extending the convenience and ease of smartcard technology to millions more passengers.
It builds on the Government's decision to require bidders for the new South Western rail franchise to set out how a new smart ticketing system could be introduced across its franchise area from London to the South Coast.

The extension of Oyster from just sixty rail stations to over three hundred under this agreement marks a massive step towards a fully integrated ticketing system in London, enabling passengers to move easily between rail, tube, DLR, tram and bus using an Oyster card and without having to buy separate tickets. It will deliver a real improvement to the journeys of thousands of Londoners who currently cannot take advantage of the benefits of Oyster.
The introduction of Oyster technology could start this year at gated stations and once worked through with train operators, Oyster pay-as-you-go could be available at National Rail stations in London during 2008.

[bonty] 01/2/2007 08:40

Garth, thanks, I'd a feeling we were only involved in a minor way, if at all.

[rambutan2] 31/1/2007 23:33

i'm glad to have been wrong! (somebody from on high certainly told the rail cos to sort it or else!)

[garth] 31/1/2007 22:04

The important bit for us:

"Train operators also want the new gates to be dual-fitting, so that they accept both Oyster and the new ITSO smartcard used by rail passengers outside London."

[garth] 31/1/2007 21:56

Bonty,

PayPass was being trialed at the RBS HQ and Ecebs are partnering RBS on smartcards and transit and are equipped for EMV and electronic purse - but there is no indication that there is any PayPass-Ecebs involvement.

With the Barclaycard/Oyster tie up it might be possible that RBS might seek to add electronic purse functionality to some ITSO cards but who knows.

G.

[awilson] 31/1/2007 17:44

Very long piece in tonight's London Evening Standard saying tht all rail companies serving London have agreed to introduce Oyster Cards. But there are no dates nor any other significant details.

[bonty] 31/1/2007 15:09

...and there goes today's 50k.

[bonty] 31/1/2007 07:55

Garth
Interesting, if clumsy, item on BBC News this am about the new PayPass system for contactless small purchases in shops. How involved are we in this? Does each PayPass reader have an ECEBS ISAM ?
B.

[spud] 29/1/2007 18:20

I pointed to the background sell a week ago. Still ongoing.

spud

[boadicea] 29/1/2007 16:40

There was a placing of 25M shares in Dec '05 and a further issue of 28.3M in March '06 but I don't know who took them.
Possibly some of these are now being drip fed to the market.
In theory, there should be no notifiable (>3%) holders as no notifications appear to be on record.
However, this seems to be a voluntary function as omissions are endemic and nothing ever happens to correct them.

[bonty] 29/1/2007 16:13

Seems to be a regular daily pattern going on of a few steady buys through the day and then a chunky sell of 50 or 100k at 3.625p towards the end of the day. Been going on for quite a while now. Anybody got a good explanation?
B.

[garth] 27/1/2007 12:01

While we are at it, the Entitlement Card has continued its roll-out this month with Young People being added to the scheme. The item below talks about Novacroft but reference to the second piece offers confirmation that this is an ITSO project. Reference to SMRTs press releases confirm their involvement.

Go-live for Scottish National Entitlement Card for Young Persons
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Print article Email article to a friend This was published: 2007-01-10 08:10:00
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Following an official announcement from the Scottish Executive in November 2006, Novacroft, working with co-contractor ESP Systex, is providing the facilities and expertise to implement concessionary travel on Scotland's public transport for young residents across the country.

The National Entitlement Card for Young Persons was launched on 8th January 2007. It offers discounts for 11-26 year old residents on a number of restaurants and high street outlets and allows all 16–18 year olds concessionary travel on buses, rail and, where applicable, ferries. Full-time volunteers aged between 19 and 25 who meet the criteria for Project Scotland are also eligible for the benefits of the concessionary travel scheme.

All 16-18 year olds will be entitled to one-third off the adult single fare on scheduled local registered and long-distance bus services with the National Entitlement Card for Young Persons. Once updates to buses are complete, the smart card will act as an electronic card that will allow journeys to be accurately recorded. The card also provides access to discounted rail journeys, again at one-third of the usual adult rate, through provision of vouchers for the Scottish Youth Rail (SYR) card, and, where applicable, offers a number of free ferry travel vouchers.

The proven infrastructure used by Novacroft and ESP Systex to implement and manage the Scottish National Entitlement Card for elderly and disabled residents, and which has led to the successful issue of over 1 million cards so far, has also been employed for this new project. Novacroft's card management system, InNovator, is the central repository for applicant data.

At Novacroft, a contact centre will also be available to handle cardholder and other stakeholder enquiries – with the provision of dedicated consumer helplines for the 83% of local authorities that wish us to manage this, and a dedicated helpline for local authority staff themselves. SMS application status updates will also be implemented.

ESP Systex will process applications and print, encode, fulfil and distribute the cards, following application provision and submission via local authorities, who will validate forms, and will also have the facility to personally add applications directly into the online InNovator system, 24 hours a day.

Current estimates forecast 190,000 cards being issued in the first phase of the scheme, covering all young Scots currently eligible. Local authority services such as library and leisure access may be introduced to the card in the future.

Novacroft and ESP Systex will be working closely with the Scottish Executive, the Improvement Service and all 32 Scottish local authorities to ensure that the National Entitlement Card for Young Persons is a great success.


.............................

Scottish Executive to use ITSO compliant smart cards for concessionary travel


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Print article Email article to a friend This was published: 2005-11-24 06:50:00
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Scottish Executive Improvement Service has awarded a contract for ITSO compliant smart cards, for concessionary travel on Scotland's public transport, to elderly and disabled citizens across Scotland. The cards will be provided under the Scottish Citizen's Voluntary Entitlement Card scheme.

The contract has been won by Novacroft, working with co-contractors ESP Systex.

The scheme will be implemented in April 2006 with Novacroft's card management system, Innovator, as the central repository for the citizen's account data. At Novacroft, a contact centre will also be available to handle cardholder and other stakeholder enquiries. Novacroft uses PRINCE2 methodologies, ISO 9001:2001 practices and total quality management principles to deliver similar services to large organisations including government bodies, passenger transport executives and local authorities.

The same principles will be used to support the Scottish Entitlement Card scheme. ESP Systex will process scheme application forms and print, encode, fulfil and distribute the smart cards. It is anticipated that up to 1,250,000 cards will be issued in the contract period and that other applications, such as education registration, cashless catering, access to leisure facilities and library membership will also reside on the card.

A spokesperson for the Scottish Executive said: "The National Citizen's entitlement card is a great example of modern and innovative use of technology which will result in making life easier for many people. The card will replace the hundreds of different card schemes used by councils and enable us to create a single, consistent, authority wide customer record - a citizen's account. This is a critical move if we want to succeed in developing joined up back office and frontline services. The Scottish Executive is pleased that ESP Systex and Novacroft will be assisting us in delivering these improvements."

Novacroft and ESP Systex will be working closely with the Improvement Service and the 32 Scottish local authorities to ensure that the Scottish Entitlement Card scheme is a resounding success.

Related links to this article:
Scottish Executive
Novacroft
ESP Systex


..............................................................

[garth] 27/1/2007 11:21

Got thinking this morning about the Scottish Entitlement card. This post hints at some of what I was thinking:

Posted: Fri, 07 Apr 2006 14:51:24 +0000 Post subject: ID cards in Scotland

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Following the thread in the Articles section about the man who wrongly received a Shetland "ID" card, I stumbled across details about the Scottish "National Entitlement Card".

Am I right in presuming these are the same cards? I haven't seen them mentioned much here - can any Scots here shed any light on them? From what I'm reading it looks very much like another softener to get people used to their lives being ruled by a single piece of plastic.

For example, in the FAQs on at the Edinburgh Council Website,

Quote:
The card carrier mentions the CHI number. What is this? What access will other people (eg NHS) have to my details?

In some cases, the Entitlement Card will include the CHI (Community Health Index) number, your unique reference number for the NHS in Scotland. Including this number on your card will make it easier for NHS staff to access the correct information in their own records when you seek treatment or care. This does not give NHS staff access to the details we hold about you.


Going back to travel concessions, from the Scottish Executive says,

Quote:
The [Scotland-wide concessionary travel] scheme will be included on the new National Entitlement Card, which is intended, over time, to allow members of the public to use an increasing number of public services through a single card.


Sounds like wearily familiar territory ... I presume, will the National Entitlement Card then be subsumed into the UK's NIR system?

Perhaps useful to note that ESP Systex, who are producing the cards, also produce London's Oyster cards: .

But hey ho, if we've got nothing to hide etc ... (*cough*)


................................

A toe in the bus door in 2006. What might it all mean by 2008/9?

If I take some profits in 2012 they might just buy me a ticket to ride integrated transport to the games I guess.....

DYOR.

G.

[bonty] 26/1/2007 16:24

Spud
Now's as good a time as any, if I had any to spare this is where I'd put it.
B.

[spud] 26/1/2007 16:21

Looking to add a further 450000k.

spud

PS There does appear to be a background seller in play.

[garth] 26/1/2007 12:49

Visa appoints managing director for UK division
25-Jan-07



Visa Europe has appointed José San-Juan as managing director of Visa UK. He replaces Colin Grannell, who took a Europe-wide marketing role two months ago.

San-Juan, who moves over from elsewhere in the European division, joins as Visa Europe announces its first range of "contactless" card deals. A number of UK banks are expected to launch contactless cards, which are "swiped" near special readers - for example Transport for London (TfL) Oyster cards, later this year.

The card payment services company has also teamed up with TfL and Barclaycard to provide an Oyster card, which doubles as a contactless debit and credit card. Visa says the agreement is the first step towards delivering a "cashless" Olympic Games in London in 2012.

San-Juan joins the UK arm after six years in roles across Visa Europe's business in Southern, Northern and Central Europe.

Grannell, as executive vice-president of partnership and marketing, is now responsible for Visa Europe's sponsorships and partnerships, particularly its Olympic properties in the lead-up to London 2012.

Rival Mastercard is also expected to launch contactless products this year. It carried out its first European trial of its PayPass system with Royal Bank of Scotland last summer (MW March 9, 2006).

Yesterday (Tuesday) Grannell announced Visa would continue to support the British Olympic Association (BOA) with a "substantial increase" in its financial backing. He says the brand is keen to assist British sport at all levels, from grassroots and youth sport through to elite performance.

[garth] 26/1/2007 11:05

Bonty,

I don't think it is your imagination. Earlier in the week I added volumes to the long term graph. There is a consistent block of volume in January. I feel that it is almost innevitable now that we will see a continuation of incremental rises. They could miss 2008 targets by 50% and still be valued at 3 times current market cap...... (ie 20 x profits of £1.5m = £30m market cap)

G.

[bonty] 26/1/2007 10:15

Is it just my imagination or is there a bit more interest in this Co since Xmas? There seemes to be a steady trickle of buying going on (and the occasional sell into any rise). I certainly get the feeling that this will be a good year for SMRT, particularly as some of the threads start to join up.
I believe the new franchisee for the East Coast main line will have to be ITSO compliant, which will link London to Scotland in ITSO terms.

[garth] 25/1/2007 15:12

Ram,

that is not necessarily bad news for Ecebs though. With the DfT stipulating ITSO compliant smart card ticketing on mainland rail networks Ecebs stand to gain through either route..... ITSO or Oyster makes little difference other than to egos, IMO (as I am sure Ken gains in no financial way from the success of Oyster ;0) )

G.