[LINK] Vic transport smartcard to cost $1bn

[Tom Worthington]

At 11:58 AM 6/02/2008, Russell Ashdown wrote:
>Tom Worthington wrote:
>>The Victorian system seemed to be workable when I tried it 
>><http://www.tomw.net.au/blog/2007/05/victorian-public-transport-contactless.html>. 
>>...
>
>This trivialises the problem with implementing a system-wide 
>integrated ticketing system over multi modes of transportation. ...

Sorry, I was pointing out that it was very difficult to get a smart 
card transport ticket system to work. Reading the cards is not that 
hard but managing lots of data from lots of different readers is.

>The problems with such a system increase exponentially as the 
>geographic area serviced by the public transportation system (and 
>hence buses, trams, ferries, number of routes and number of trips) 
>increases. ...

Yes,one of the lessons from the failure of such systems seems to be 
that you need to rationalize the fare system as part of implementing 
the smart card. Assuming that because it is computerized, it can cope 
with arbitrarily complex tickets does not work.

>... data from each bus,tram, ferry, etc. must be uploaded ... All 
>this over a WiFi network installed as a single access point in each depot! ...

If the wireless network could be extended out of the bus depot, it 
would make the implementation easier. As an example, there is a WiFi 
network in the Sydney CBD, set up for the Emergency Warning and 
Intercommunication (EWIS) Alert system installed for the APEC meeting 
<http://www.oa.com.au/component.php?productid=5&componentid=9>. 
Perhaps that could be used to communicate to busses. Or the 
electronic signs installed at bus stops to display live route data 
could double as access points. The bus could update data at each bus stop.



Tom Worthington FACS HLM tom.worthington at tomw.net.au Ph: 0419 496150
Director, Tomw Communications Pty Ltd            ABN: 17 088 714 309
PO Box 13, Belconnen ACT 2617                      http://www.tomw.net.au/
Adjunct Senior Lecturer, ANU