When the CharlieCard made its debut in December, bundled-up T riders no longer had to stand in the cold while fumbling with tokens and coins. With over one million touchless fare cards in circulation, Bostonians’ frozen fingers have found a reprieve in the touchless technology within the new card.
ENABLING “TOUCHLESS”
For many people in Boston, the CharlieCard may be the first introduction to touchless cards, but the technology has been widely available to consumers since Mobil introduced its SpeedPass for quick payment at the pump in 1997.
The technology behind these fare cards—called radio frequency identification (RFID)—is used in many everyday activities, from faster credit card processing to E-Z Pass toll collection on state turnpikes, and even in RFID solutions for inventory tracking, which enhance efficiency and accuracy in inventory management.
Proponents of the technology laud the speed of data interaction and security of stored information and value, while opponents worry about potential privacy issues of being tracked by authorities.
An RFID transaction occurs when a reader activates the chip within the enabled device, calling the information and delivering it to a computer for further processing.
Close-range RFID, like the chips in CharlieCards and American Express ExpressPay cards, was unified under ISO 14443, a protocol established by the Switzerland-based International Standards Organization, a group that establishes uniformity in technology for everything from bicycles to semiconductors.
SPEEDIER TRANSIT
When Boston’s MBTA launched the CharlieCard in December 2006, thousands of area residents were introduced to “touchless” smartcard technology, which allows riders to simply touch their wallets to a sensor — rendering the T’s familiar, gold tokens obsolete. MBTA Smart Card Program Manager Joshua Martiesian said the MBTA decided to implement an RFID-enabled automated fare collection system about five years ago. The contactless fare cards are manufactured by Amsterdam-based Gemalto, which also makes smart cards for transit systems in London and Paris.
While many T riders have experienced initial troubles with the MBTA’s new automated fare collection system, the technology, once adopted by the majority of riders, could speed the boarding process significantly.
“The throughput at fare gates is approximately 40 people per minute, depending on whether they use a ticket or a card,” Martiesian said.
Transport for London, which operates the London Underground and bus system, launched a system similar to the CharlieCard in 2003. Oyster, as the system is called, has experienced rapid growth. The number of Oyster cards issued has surpassed the city’s population of more than seven million people.
“We have 10.4 million [Oyster cards] issued to date — within four years,” said a TfL spokesman, who declined to be named, citing corporate policy.
In 1998, a consortium called TranSys began developing London’s smart card system, according to an informational report provided to The Daily Free Press by TranSys spokeswoman Marie Ennis.
“The card is a 1kb Philips Mifare card and contains a microchip and coiled antenna, activated by a magnetic field around the ticket reader,” the report reads. “A typical Oyster transaction takes 200 milliseconds [ . . . ] the presence of a valid seasons ticket is identified or [ . . . ] the correct fare is calculated from a possible 1.83 million fare combinations, and then data is written back to the card.”
The most significant benefits of the system are its speed and security, allowing more people to board London’s infamous Tube and red buses. It also allows lost passes and prepaid cards to be replaced more easily.
“Over three million journeys are made per day on the Tube and six million on the buses,” the TfL spokesman said. “Using paper tickets, 15 people can pass the barriers per minute. With Oyster it’s 40. More people can be transported.”
Oyster’s success has been attributed to its underlying RFID technology and positive customer experiences.
“I can definitely say that the Oyster card was a great system,” Boston University College of Arts and Sciences junior and former BU London program participant Andrew Borden said. “It was fast and easy to use.”
Since its initial introduction, several changes have been made to the system. The program has expanded to allow both passes and prepaid value to be loaded onto the same card. It also registers Oyster cards, so lost cards can be replaced with value intact, all of which would not be possible without the use of RFID cards. In Boston, registration will be available for CharlieCard users in summer 2007, according to the MBTA website.
Like the MBTA in Boston, TfL has introduced two price levels for people who pay cash versus using prepaid value on Oyster. The policy allows both transportation systems to charge a heftier price when riders do not use RFID cards and encourages greater use of smart card payments for prepaid travel on the transit system.
FASTER PAYMENT
Although the new CharlieCard system is the most noticeable application of RFID cards in Boston, students can also make use of RFID technology when paying with big-name credit cards in many local stores.
In 2002, American Express introduced its ExpressPay program, allowing its cardholders to make payments using RFID technology rather than swiping the magnetic stripe normally located on the back of credit cards.
The payment process, which involves the RFID-enabled card being held in front of a special reader for less than a second, is faster than swiping a credit card or paying with cash.
“ExpressPay offers a speedy, convenient alternative to traditional payment types, helping to improve the overall speed of checkout,” CVS Senior Vice President Jon Roberts said in a Dec. 14, 2005 press release.
The average ExpressPay transaction is 12.5 seconds, compared with 25.7 seconds for swiping a credit card when no signature is required and 33.7 seconds for cash payment, American Express Public Affairs Director Rosa Alfonso, a BU alum, said in an email.
MasterCard, whose comparable system is called PayPass, is interoperable with RFID payment systems around the world, such as American Express ExpressPay, Visa Contactless and Discover’s forthcoming system.
“ISO 14443 [is] the interoperable standard that has been adopted by the major payment brands for conducting contactless payments,” a June 6, 2005 American Express press release reads.
BU students can make use of this faster form of payment at many stores near the Charles River campus, including CVS, Regal Cinemas, Cold Stone Creamery and McDonald’s. When making purchases under $25, touchless cardholders do not even have to sign to complete the transaction.
THE BIG BROTHER CHIP
RFID-enabled cards allow companies to collect user data, raising concerns about consumer privacy. In London, Oyster card users must “touch in and touch out” when they get on and off the Tube, so the card’s RFID technology records when and where riders enter and exit the transit system.
While the MBTA records when riders board the subway or bus, no one is required to identify themselves upon exiting the system. According to the privacy policy on its website, the MBTA retains customer data for up to 14 months.
Privacy advocates criticize the immense amount of data under control of these transportation agencies. Two hundred forty-three requests for Oyster usage records were made by Greater London’s Metropolitan Police, according to a March 13, 2006 BBC News article.
Oyster system officials have continually stated that the proper privacy protections are being taken by the agency.
“We comply fully with the Data Protection Act,” the TfL spokesman said, referring to the United Kingdom’s 1998 laws regarding protocols for the treatment of data within the country.
BETTER SECURITY
In other applications of RFID technology, like the new “touchless” credit and debit cards, the same privacy concerns apply.
But similar tracking is possible with traditional credit cards because banks collect data from transactions, regardless of the processing mode.
However, the RFID module is more difficult to modify and copy than a traditional magnetic stripe by design. Magnetic stripes, which have been commonplace since American Express introduced them nationally in 1972, can be read with a home computer.
The Smart Card Alliance, whose members include TfL, American Express and MasterCard, recently released security and privacy guidelines for RFID and other smart cards, according to a Jan. 30, 2006 PC Magazine article.
THE WAVE OF THE FUTURE
As touchless payments become more common around the world, many more consumers will begin to use this technology to speed up everyday transactions. And as T riders become more accustomed to the CharlieCard system, it should improve boarding speed and allow the former token collectors to provide customer service within the transit system.
“Once the MBTA makes all their renovations, it has the potential to be the same caliber as Oyster,” Borden, the BU student, said. “People just need to give it more time to develop.”
