SOURCE: The Smart Card Alliance
February 06, 2012 13:15 ET
PRINCETON JUNCTION, NJ--(Marketwire - Feb 6, 2012) - With Near Field Communication (NFC)-enabled handsets poised to exceed 100 million in 2012, the Smart Card Alliance Transportation Council today announced a new white paper examining how the transit industry can best make use of this popular new technology.
"One of the major challenges facing transit agencies today is how to capitalize on the ever-growing popularity of mobile phones with a solid mobile strategy," said Craig Roberts, Utah Transit Authority, and chair of the Transportation Council. "This white paper builds on the knowledge base developed in earlier white papers to foster a greater understanding of NFC technology, explain its role in the transit industry, and shed light on key issues facing the transit industry in developing a mobile strategy."
The white paper, "NFC and Transit," is available for free download by visitinghttp://www.smartcardalliance.org/pages/publications-near-field-communication-and-transit. It explores the use of NFC for payment, transit ticketing and non-payment transit information applications. Topics include:
- Transit mobile applications overview
- NFC applications that can benefit transit including payment, ticketing and information applications
- The NFC ecosystem and stakeholder roles
- Key considerations for developing a mobile strategy
- Examples of NFC pilot projects in New Jersey, London, San Francisco and Germany
"In order to fully realize the benefits of NFC technology, transit agencies need to immerse themselves into the operational details of the NFC ecosystem and thoroughly understand the technology and business models," said Randy Vanderhoof, executive director of the Smart Card Alliance. "This white paper is another piece of the puzzle in terms of fully educating the industry on the ins and outs of NFC."
Participants involved in the development of this white paper included: Accenture; ACS, A Xerox Company; American Express; Ashok Joshi; Collis; Connexem Consulting; Cubic Transportation Systems; Dallas Area Rapid Transit (DART); Giesecke & Devrient; HP Enterprise Services; Identive Group; Infineon Technologies; INSIDE Secure; JPMorgan Chase; LTK Engineering Services; MasterCard Worldwide; MTA New York City Transit; NJ TRANSIT; NXP Semiconductors; OTI America; Quadagno & Associates; Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA); U.S. Department of Transportation/Volpe Center; VeriFone; Visa Inc.; Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA).
For more resources, visit the Transportation Council's Open Payment Resources webpage. For more on transit and other news, join the LinkedIn group Smart.Transit, and follow the Smart Card Alliance on Twitter @SmartCardOrgUSA, and Facebook at Smart Card Alliance.
Transit and NFC topics are on the agenda this week at the Smart Card Alliance 2012 Payments Summit, February 8th -10th, 2012 at the Hilton Salt Lake City Center in Salt Lake City, Utah. Visit the 2012 Payments Summit event page for more information.
About the Smart Card Alliance Transportation CouncilThe Smart Card Alliance Transportation Council is focused on promoting the adoption of interoperable contactless smart card payment systems for transit and other transportation services. The Council is engaged in projects that support applications of smart card use. The overall goal of the Transportation Council is to help accelerate the deployment of standards-based smart card payment programs within the transportation industry.
About the Smart Card AllianceThe Smart Card Alliance is a not-for-profit, multi-industry association working to stimulate the understanding, adoption, use and widespread application of smart card technology.
Through specific projects such as education programs, market research, advocacy, industry relations and open forums, the Alliance keeps its members connected to industry leaders and innovative thought. The Alliance is the single industry voice for smart cards, leading industry discussion on the impact and value of smart cards in the U.S. and Latin America. For more information please visit http://www.smartcardalliance.org.
