Supplementary memorandum from TranSys
(TPT 19a)
ITSO AND OYSTER—TECHNICAL
IMPLEMENTATION AND
ISSUES
INTRODUCTION
The PRESTIGE Project contract was signed on
14 August 1998 after years of investigatory trials and negotiations.
ITSO was formed in December 1998 to develop a specification for
an interoperable smartcard. ITSO comprises authorities and operators
of each public transport sector, as well as system and equipment
suppliers and is supported by the Department of Transport (DfT).
Its primary objectives are to:
— Develop a specification for an interoperable
public transport smartcard across the UK.
— Encourage implementation of the specification.
— Ensure the confidentiality of data
for each party.
— Provide open standards to parties
wishing to conform to the specification.
ITSO AND OYSTER
DIFFERENCES
ITSO is designed to meet the needs of all UK
transport operators and Public Transport Executives (PTEs) without
particular emphasis of any one aspect. Oyster is designed explicitly
to meet the needs of TfL with performance optimised around the
associated business operations. Different methods are employed
by ITSO and Oyster in how ticketing functions are delivered:
— ITSO joins multiple discrete schemes
(Scotland, Cheshire etc) via centralised security management whereas
Oyster operates as a single overall scheme.
— ITSO is decentralised with multiple
card and product issuers and service operators with the associated
databases. Oyster operates a single, consolidated scheme database.
— ITSO Ltd mandates the security scheme
to be applied by ITSO scheme operators, including the supply of
the security service and secure modules (but does not take any
financial liability). TranSys bears the card security fraud risk
for Oyster and uses TranSys designed solutions.
— ITSO supports multiple smart card
technologies. Oyster cards are currently only issued using a single
technology, although the installed readers are capable of being
upgraded to read more.
— ITSO supports a wide range of ticketing
products, including singles, returns, reserved seats, travelcards,
loyalty products and a stored value purse. Oyster currently supports
zonal travelcards (including the Freedom Pass concession) and
the Pay As You Go "ePurse" product.
— In ITSO responsibility for managing
the operating software and scheme updates is devolved to the schemes
who may have to bear the costs for other schemes/PTEs to accommodate
any changes required. Oyster scheme updates are controlled through
TranSys, who are responsible for managing the system including
the end devices.
— ITSO was created explicitly to be
an open standard. Oyster is not designed as an open standard,
due to the fraud liabilities represented by the TranSys PFI model.
Information has been restricted to partners integrating Oyster
in conjunction with TranSys.
— ITSO modifications are processed
through a Technical Committee of respective experts (drawn from
the ITSO membership) prior to agreement by the wider membership,
then DfT and finally ITSO Management Board. Oyster updates are
designed and managed by TranSys, in conjunction with TfL.
— Settlement and Clearing is outside
of the ITSO specification. Oyster supports Settlement and Clearing
as part of the scheme design.
As a consequence of these differences, there
are a number of significant challenges presented by the integration
of ITSO on Prestige:
— ITSO card processing takes significantly
longer than for Oyster cards, due to the additional data stored
(for full accountability) and security module use.
— The prevention of transaction loss
requires end-to-end acknowledgement of data transfers.
— Larger ITSO transaction sizes (for
full accountability) and additional operating data required to
support the ITSO functions require greater communication bandwidth
and storage capacity within the system.
— Additional data transfer will affect
operational processes (eg bus driver sign-on times).
— TranSys is unable to underwrite performance
across all ITSO card types as it cannot control the performance
characteristics of cards that are ITSO certified. It is only reasonably
possible for TranSys to underwrite performance for an agreed subset
of ITSO card types issued on an agreed retailing basis.
— The ITSO Specification is continually
evolving, creating a constantly moving baseline that needs to
be managed and assessed.
ITSO ON PRESTIGE
The objective of the ITSO on PRESTIGE (IOP)
Project is the "acceptance of ITSO-compliant smartcards with
a limited range of products by PRESTIGE Validation Devices to
make them able to accept ITSO cards".
A Variation Notice to the existing Ticketing
Services Contract (TSC) was issued by TfL to TranSys. It specifies
the need for a Design Study that would enable TTL and the Department
for Transport (DfT) to authorise the implementation of the IOP
Project.
The Design Study comprises three stages:
— Stage One—Scoping Study (completed).
— Stage Two—Requirements Analysis
(completed[26]).
— Stage Three—Programme Definition
and Firm Fixed Price Proposal (work-in-progress).
KEY REQUIREMENT
The overarching statement of requirements is
that, "Operationally, there must be no degradation to the
current Oyster service as a result of the implementation of ITSO
on PRESTIGE":
— Operations include passenger gate
throughput transaction times, bus driver sign-on times, fares
revisions, and the provision of (management) reports, as specified
in the TSC.
— Degradation refers to all performance
measures cited in the TSC (no relief will be given to the terms
of the current TSC), the ability of TfL to deliver the Oyster
service, and the availability of the Oyster service.
— Oyster Service refers to current
provision under the TSC or any addenda thereto made by previous
variations to the PRESTIGE contract; there will be no adverse
affect on the TSC.
— Implementation relates to any and
all interfaces between ITSO and Oyster on PRESTIGE.
The following key requirements in addition to
the above from the Variation Notice were derived. The system must:
— deliver a passenger experience similar
to that of Oyster, where possible;
— be fully ITSO certified;
— support all ITSO card types and relevant
product types;
— provide ITSO card read / validation
performance of less than 750 milliseconds;
— operationally support ITSO Hotlists
and Action Lists;
— fully implement TfL's existing magnetic
ticket business rules applied to ITSO cards; and
— provide support for revenue control
activities, including passback protection.
IOP will provide an ITSO Operating service in
that it will accept ITSO products presented on a smartcard, without
providing product retailing functionality to TfL.
IMPLEMENTATION SOLUTION
The End Stage Two Report included various options
to meet the requirements. Option 2 was selected for the Stage
Three activities. This option is full replacement of the PRESTIGE
readers and the functional capability to support ITSO Hot Lists
and Action Lists as well as facilitating staff Customer Service
assistance and providing Passengers access to information on their
ITSO cards.
The following technical solutions will be required
to implement ITSO on PRESTIGE:
— Provision of TfL ITSO back office
(purchase and integration) and associated ITSO infrastructure
enhancements.
— Upgrade the card readers (hardware
and software) to provide the required card performance and to
include the ITSO Security Access Module (ISAM).
— Upgrade Ticket Office Machines (software)
to read and display ITSO card contents to enable ticket office
personnel to determine whether or not passengers have the correct
products with which to travel in "Oysterland".
— Upgrade Patron Operated Machines
(software) to read and display ITSO card contents to enable passengers
to determine whether they have the correct products on their ITSO
cards with which to travel in "Oysterland".
— Provide the functionality (hardware
and software) for ITSO data to be retrieved from the memory of
a failed card reader to ensure no transaction data is lost.
November 2007
26 The results of the requirements analyses are presented
in the ITSO on PRESTIGE Project-Design Study: End Stage Two Report. Back
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