RFID hitches ride on German mass transit project

IDG News Service - The use of electronic-ticketing systems in Germany's huge mass transit sector is moving forward after the successful testing of a smart-card system that uses radio frequency identification (RFID).
T-Systems International GmbH, the IT services and infrastructure arm of German telco Deutsche Telekom AG, has developed an e-ticketing system with the German Mass Transit Authority (VDV) representing hundreds of regional bus and train companies in the country, said Frankfurt-based T-Systems in a statement on Thursday.
The system consists of several components: the "VDV core application," a semiconductor-based smart card equipped with a miniature antenna, RFID technology for wirelessly retrieving data from the cards and sensor-based card readers.
The technology allows passengers to pass by a card reader without having to swipe or insert their cards into the device.
Customer data, such as identification number and pricing, is contained on a chip embedded in the smart card. "This is not an RFID chip, which essentially is dumb, but a chip that contains an operating and software application," said T-Systems spokesman Albert Hold. "All data is encrypted for secure transmission."
RFID is used in the process because the radio technology doesn't require the embedded chips to be powered in order to retrieve information, according to Hold. Also, the cards can be read remotely.
"With our system, passengers don't have to remove the cards from their wallets," he said.
T-Systems has also developed a back-end application for processing usage and billing data, and aims to host the application in its own data centers. It has not yet announced who will supply the hardware needed for the e-ticketing system, which it hopes to start marketing to German mass transit companies after approval of the VDV core application standard. That is expected in June, the spokesman said.
Numerous mass transit companies in the country have expressed interest in the system, which aims to reduce operating costs and curb manipulation from paper-based tickets, according to Hold.
The e-ticketing venture is one of many RFID projects in Germany, which is at the forefront of smart-tag development in Europe.
Metro AG, one of the world's largest retail groups, which is based in Dusseldorf, Germany, is currently rolling out the technology across its German stores. Fans attending the FIFA (Federation Internationale de Football Association) World Cup soccer tournament in Germany next year must accept RFID chips on their tickets in order to enter the stadiums. And earlier this week, Siemens Business Services GmbH & Co. OHG, Fujitsu Siemens Computers (Holding) BV and Intel Corp. joined the German hospital Klinikum Saarbruckenin a pilot project to test RFID chips embedded in wristbands containing a patient's number.