Oyster card

The Oyster card is a form of electronic ticketing designed for use on Transport for London and National Rail services within the Greater London area of England. The card was first issued to the public in 2003 with a limited range of features and there continues to be a phased introduction of further functions. As of March 2006 over 5 million people use the cards. According to Nicole Carrol, then of EDS, the name reflects the way "the oyster protects a pearl in much the same way that the card protects the cardholder's money."

File:Oyster Card Under16.JPG

An Under 16's Oyster Card.

Background

The Oyster card is a contactless smartcard, with a claimed proximity range of about 10 cm. The scheme is operated by TranSys, and is based on Philips' MIFARE Standard 1k chips, provided by G&D and SchlumbergerSema.

The Oyster card may have been inspired by Hong Kong's transport system, which uses the similar Octopus card. As with the Octopus card and other pay as you go smartcards, also notably in Japan, there is the potential for future expansion of the Oyster card to act as an e-money payment system.

Travellers touch the card to a distinctive yellow circular reader (a Cubic Tri-Reader) positioned on automated barriers at London Underground stations to 'touch in' and 'touch out' at the start and end of a journey (contact is not necessary, but the range of the reader is only a centimetre or so). Tram stops and buses also have readers, on the driver's ticket machine or, in the case of articulated buses, near the other entrance doors as well. Oyster cards can be used to store both period travelcards and bus passes (of one week or more), and a pay as you go balance.

The system is asynchronous with the most up-to-date balance and ticket data held electronically on the card rather than in the central database. The main database is updated periodically with information received from the card by barriers and validators. Tickets purchased online or over the telephone are "loaded" at a preselected barrier or validator.

Features

Period travelcards

Main article: Travelcard

The card can hold up to three period travelcards at the same time, each with different validity dates and zonal coverage. Period bus passes can also be charged to the card. The system is designed to be multi-modal and travelcards work across London's Tube, DLR, tram and bus network. Users with period travelcards can also travel on rail services within the Greater London area in all the zones they have validity for on their card. Travelcards can be loaded onto the card up to a month in advance of their start date.

Pay as you go

On the Underground the Oyster card allows users to pass through the gateline.

The pay as you go balance (initially known as "pre pay") is automatically debited by the correct fare at the end of each journey by Tube or DLR and each time a bus or tram is boarded. The pay as you go balance is also debited by the relevant amount if the user travels by tube or DLR beyond the zonal validity of any travelcards stored on the card.

When using pay as you go at stations with barriers, debiting is seamless, as users need to use the card to open the barriers. At stations without barriers, users have to remember to touch the card on an Oyster validator at the beginning and end of the journey in order to debit the card by the correct amount.

Pricing

Pay as you go single ticket prices for bus, Tube, DLR and tram are at a lower price than paper tickets to encourage customers to switch to Oyster. A cash bus and tram fare of £1.50 costs either 80p or £1 (depending on time of day) if purchased using an Oyster card. Using Oyster on the Underground a single in Zone 1 costs £1.50 (£3 paper) and a single in any other zone costs £1 (£3 paper). Prices of paper tickets have been substantially increased after the introduction of Oyster.

From January 2006 single journeys on the Tube and DLR before 7:00am, after 7:00pm and at any time over the weekend or on public holidays are simplified and discounted with all tickets priced at £1, £1.50 or £2. The equivalent paper tickets are sold at £3 and £4. Some examples for comparison:

Single ticket type	Paper ticket	Oyster
		Mon-Fri 7am-7pm	All other times
Zone 1 only	£3	£1.50
Zone 2, 3, 4, 5 or 6 (or any two adjacent)		£1
Zone 2 to 6		£1.80	£1
Zone 1 to 6	£4	£3.50	£2

Oyster cards can be purchased at most London Underground ticket windows. A refundable deposit of £3 is paid unless a weekly or longer period ticket is loaded to the card in the first instance. A registration form is provided at the time of purchase. If the form is not completed the Oyster card is restricted such that only pay as you go and weekly tickets can be loaded.

From 19 November 2006 in order to prevent misuse by a reported 2% of passengers, a £4 'maximum cash fare' is charged where users of pay as you go do not 'touch in' and 'touch out' at the start and end of their journeys. If the journey begins or ends at some National Rail stations, a £5 'maximum cash fare' is charged.

National Rail

c2c accepts Oyster to pay as you go on its main route in London but other rail operators do not.

Oyster pay as you go is only available on a limited number of rail routes which run alongside London Underground lines, such as c2c, where tickets are interchangeable.

Pay as you go is not yet available on the rest of London's rail network because of the reluctance of the train operating companies to adopt the technology and change to Transport for London's zonal pricing model. Some operators limit the use of Oyster pay as you go to short sections of line or do not allow its use at intermediate stations. Oyster cards are generally not sold at most rail stations. Transport for London has announced in May 2006 that it will fund the installation of Oyster readers at all London rail stations in Zones 1 - 6. It will also work with the Department for Transport to make sure that the readers are compatible with the system being developed by the Integrated Transport Smartcard Organisation. The readers could be installed this year at gated stations, and the pay-as-you-go functionality could be available at all stations in 2008.

From November 2007, Transport for London will directly manage the routes in London currently operated by Silverlink and these will be the first routes to be converted to accept pay as you go. Stagecoach subsidiary South West Trains will accept Oyster cards on its services in London. This was a requirement of the new franchise awarded to Stagecoach in September 2006.

Capping

A 'capping' system was introduced on 27 February 2005, which guarantees that an Oyster card user will be charged no more than the cheapest combinations of single tickets, travelcards and/or bus pass that cover all journeys made that day. A 50p discount is given where the price is capped at the travelcard or bus pass rate. Unlike paper daily travelcards, Oyster cards capped at travelcard rates are not valid on National Rail services other than those routes which accept Oyster to pay as you go.

Recharging

File:London-underground-travelcard.jpg

Capping is intended to replace paper daily travelcards but is not valid on all rail services.

Users of the system can purchase tickets or increase the pay as you go balance on their card at the ticket office or at touch-screen ticket machines at Underground stations, over the telephone, online at the Oyster card website or from around 2,300 newsagents.

Auto top-up

Customers can also register a debit or credit card online which will be debited automatically by their preference of £20 or £40 when the pay as you go balance on the card falls below £5. The 'auto top-up' occurs when the user passes through a London Underground barrier, touches a DLR validator or any bus or tram reader with a balance of under £5. A light on the Oyster reader flashes to indicate the auto top up has taken place and an email is sent to confirm the transaction.

Reporting

Oyster cards can be used on all London Underground services.

Touch screen ticket machines in ticket halls report the last eight journeys and last top up amount. The same information is available as a print-out from London Underground ticket offices. The balance is displayed on Underground barriers at the end of journeys that have caused a debit from the balance and can also be requested at newsagents and National Rail stations that provide top-up facility. A report detailing all transactions where the Oyster card has been 'swiped' can be requested from Transport for London, but from the date of the request Transport for London can only ever provide the previous 8 weeks journey history and no further. The Oyster website gives details of the most recent journeys that have caused a pay as you go debit but does not list details of journeys entirely undertaken using a travelcard.

Oyster photocards

Adapted cards known as Oyster photocards are issued to groups eligible for free or discounted travel. The cards include an image of the authorised user on the card front to ensure they are only used by that person. The cards are encoded to offer discounted fares and are currently available for students in full time education (30% off season tickets), 16-17 cards (apply child rates to single journeys and carry discount on period travelcards, also allows free travel on buses and trams for students) and for children under 16 years old (free travel on buses and trams and discounted single fares on the Underground and DLR). A similar Freedom Pass is issued to the elderly and those with disabilities to provide free travel.

18+ student

Student Oyster photocards are available to full time students over 18 at registered institutions within the area of the M25 motorway; an area slightly larger than Greater London. Student Oyster photocards are Oyster cards with a photograph printed directly onto the face of the card and an encoded entitlement to period tickets sold at 30% discount; there is no discount for pay as you go. The discount lasts one year and then a new Student Oyster photocard is required.

Since 8 September 2006, students at some London universities have been able to apply for their student photocard online by uploading a digitial image and paying with a credit or debit card. According to Transport for London, other universities are expected to join the scheme in the future.

Roll-out history

Articulated buses have validators for Oyster users inside each of three sets of doors.

The roll out of features on Oyster Card and migration from the paper based system has been phased since launch. Milestones so far have been:

• Cards issued to Transport for London staff (2002)
• Cards issued to the public for annual and monthly tickets only (2003)
• Freedom Passes issued on Oyster (2003)
• Pay as you go (prepay) launched on the tube and DLR (January 2004)
• Off-peak fares launched (January 2004)
• Annual tickets only available on Oyster (2004)
• Monthly tickets only available on Oyster (2004)
• Prepay on buses (May 2004)
• Daily prepay price capping (February 2005)
• Oyster Child Photocards for under 16s — free travel on buses and reduced fares on trains (August 2005)
• Automatic top up (September 2005)
• Weekly tickets only available on Oyster (September 2005)
• Oyster single tickets priced as low as 33% of the price of paper tickets (January 2006)
• Auto top-up on buses and trams (June 2006)
• Journey history for pay as you go transactions available online (July 2006)
• £4 'maximum cash fare' charged for pay as you go journeys without a 'touch in' and 'touch out' (November 2006)

Usage statistics

Over 5 million people use the cards. As of April 2006, 60% of all tube and bus journeys are completed using the card. 16% of all tube journeys are paid for using Oyster pay as you go while 8% are paid for with cash.

Future

Beyond London

Oyster card can be used on the DLR network.

There are no immediate plans to roll out the Oyster card to the National railway network outside the Greater London area, though the Association of Train Operating Companies is interested in developing an ISO 14443-type card, like Oyster. As Oyster was developed quite some time ago, however, it is not currently compatible with the Integrated Transport Smartcard Organisation (ITSO) smartcard specification, and none of the modern, PC-based, rail ticketing systems are able to issue tickets on Oyster at present; however some older ticket-issuing equipment at stations served by London Underground but managed by Network Rail or their operators has been converted for use with Oyster Card.

The Department for Transport is, however, pushing Transport for London to make Oyster an ITSO compliant system, with a likely deployment target of 2009.

E-money

In 2005 Transport for London shortlisted two financial services suppliers to add e-money payment capability to the Oyster card. The scheme is planned to be used for purchases of low value, typically below £5 in retailers such as newsagents. It was planned that the e-money payment facility could be available from 2006, however Transport for London have been unable to find a suitable partner for the scheme to operate. It has since been reported that plans to use Oyster for e-payments have been shelved.

Future roll-out schedule

• E-money (unknown)
• Pay as you go on South West Trains (2007-2008)
• Pay as you go on Silverlink Metro services (November 2007)
• Roll out of pay as you go on rest of National Rail network in London (2008)
• Pay as you go capped at weekly 'best value' (2006-8)
• Annual season ticket sales only available online or by phone (2006-8)
• Migration of monthly ticket sales to arrears billing or online or by phone (2009-11)

Issues

The system has not been without technical setbacks and criticisms.

Privacy

Pay as you go users touch a validator before boarding a tram

The system has been criticised as a threat to the privacy of its users. Each Oyster card is uniquely numbered, and registration, though not compulsory for pay as you go and weekly tickets, is required in order to purchase monthly or longer tickets (which are no longer available on paper). Usage data are stored both on the card and centrally by Transport for London; recent usage can be checked by holders at some ticket machines. Privacy groups consider it a form of mass surveillance and are concerned with how these data will be used, especially given the introduction of the London congestion charge by Mayor of London Ken Livingstone in February 2003.

The police have used Oyster card data as an investigative tool, and use of these is increasing, with 243 requests made in total as of March 2006.

Sources inside TfL indicate that usage data which should be removed after three months, are not. Databases contain usage data which account for over two years of travel for many individuals, further adding to the criticism of an invasion of privacy.

Design

The system has been criticised for usability issues in general system, website and top-up machine design. The most significant usability issue is that pay as you go customers who for whatever reason do not "touch out" at the end of their journeys will not be charged correctly. Users who have run up a pay as you go debt of as little as £1 are prohibited from using any period travelcards on the card until the debt is repaid. Another criticism is that problem diagnosis by London Underground staff is generally poor, as the system is relatively new and complex, and the staff may not be correctly trained, which can lead to passenger frustration.

Software fault

On 10 March 2005 a software fault meant that the whole Oyster system was inoperable during the morning rush hour. Ticket barriers had to be left open and pay as you go fares could not be collected.

Pre pay launch 'bug'

On the day the pay as you go system went live on all Oyster cards, some season ticket passengers were prevented from making a second journey on their travelcard. Upon investigation each had a negative prepay balance. This was widely reported as a major bug in the system. However, the reason for the "bug" was that some season ticket holders, either knowingly or otherwise, were passing through zones not included on their tickets. The existing paper system could not prevent this kind of misuse as the barriers only checked if a paper ticket was valid in the zone the barrier was in.

The difference between pay as you go and Travelcards

Transport for London has heavily promoted the Oyster card, with many adverts seeking to portray it as an alternative to the Travelcard. However one-day Travelcards cannot be loaded onto the cards, whilst the pay as you go facility does not work on most National Rail routes. In late 2005 the Advertising Standards Authority ordered the withdrawal of a poster that directly presented Oyster pay as you go as a substitute for a paper Travelcard and claimed it was "more convenient" and "no need to plan in advance", after the ASA ruled that the lack of National Rail support meant that the two products were not directly comparable.

External links

• Transport for London - Oyster card