Open Standard Ticketing
is the future gateway to consumer mobility.
Mobility should be accessible, affordable, secure and reliable. Open standards achieve this by ensuring sustainability, lowering costs and promoting innovation.
WHAT?
Ticketing innovation. Technical standards bodies, Calypso Networks Association (CNA) and OSPT Alliance have formed a partnership to support the evolution of open standards that define the advancement of smart ticketing and mobility systems.
WHY?
Infinite possibilities. Detailing open standards that are defined by and created for the ticketing and mobility community empowers transport and mobility operators to control how their ticketing systems advance. It encourages adoption of evolving technologies and expands access by enabling competition.
HOW?
Community engagement. A platform for all participants to share requirements, opportunities and vision. Standards will evolve using collective insight – alongside the combined technical expertise and knowledge of the community – to support existing and future ticketing and mobility systems.
Resources
Whitepaper
Why consider open ticketing standards for Account-Based Ticketing?
The coming years will be defined by a migration from legacy automated fare collection (AFC) systems towards forms of account-based ticketing. By championing openness, the industry can ensure this technology realises its full potential in both innovation and adoption.
Understand the impact of
MaaS and COVID-19 on
transport.
Learn best practice and
the value of open ticketing
standards for ABT.
eBook
What are the benefits of open transports ticketing standards to operators and authorities?
Dispelling any myths and misconceptions of using open standards.
This eBook provides key insights and understanding into:
- What constitutes an open standard and the different type of standards the market uses.
- The ability of standards to contain a ticketing system’s total cost of ownership.
- How globally defined member-driven standards meet local needs and support innovation.
- The vital role of the transport community in defining the functionality required.
- How ticketing standards can become the gateway to consumer mobility.
FAQs
Find out more about our partnership
Why do we need standards?
Standards are vital within the technology sector to ensure seamless operations between devices and systems, and to secure sensitive information. Bodies such as the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) and Common Criteria (CC) are key in fulfilling this role.
These standards, however, are vast, covering many sectors and needs. It is therefore important to develop application standards that are uniquely created for a specific marketplace and function, such as the ticketing community.
By defining a ‘baseline’ that all parties can access and use within these sectors, those implementing the technology, such as public transport operators and authorities, do not get ‘locked-in’ to using a single vendor. This in turn encourages competition, keeps lifecycle costs low and enables focus on other ways to innovate and differentiate products.
Vital to application standards success is the ability for all participants within the community to be able to input, share knowledge and shape the future of the technology standards created. Public transport operators and authorities must have ultimate control of their systems.
Who provides specific transporting ticketing application standards today?
Calypso Networks Association (CNA) and OPST Alliance govern the Calypso® and CIPURSE™ standards respectively. Both have a wide reach globally, significant adoption and have co-existed in the market for many years.
In addition to standards development, the technical bodies have vast and active membership communities which contribute to the work programmes and shape their futures. Both bodies welcome participation from any party with an active interest in the ticketing and access control markets.
What is the aim of the partnership?
The joint effort is not a revolution of the great work that has taken place to date, but an evolution to realise the potential of ticketing systems long-term..
Combining insight, technical expertise and skills, the bodies will work to ensure the Calypso® and CIPURSE™ open standards will not only remain one step ahead, but also become the central gateway to consumer mobility and access control services.
What are the benefits for Operators and Authorities?
Open standards designed by and uniquely developed for the transport community empower public transport operators and authorities with the ability to control the advancement of ticketing systems and have a ‘voice’ in the process.
This is achieved by:
- Advancing global standardisation through the development of interoperable systems, which helps to share knowledge and contain system costs, by reducing manufacturer costs.
- Promoting competition and lowering lifecycle management costs by avoiding vendor lock-in.
- Encouraging the use of open source software, which is accessible and usable by all.
More widely, the on-going objective of the partnership is to simplify understanding of why open standards are valuable.
Will the partnership impact existing deployments of Calypso® and CIPURSE™?
Absolutely not. CNA and OSPT Alliance will continue to maintain and evolve their respective specifications, tools and supporting programmes.
How can I get involved?
As truly open communities, both technical bodies welcome any party active or interested in digital ticketing. Organisations can become a member of the respective associations and support work efforts to promote the adoption of open standards. Both alliances gladly accept companies not yet supporting open standards in transport ticketing to join us on this journey.