Transport Ticketing Conference & Expo,

28-30 January 2013

London

Smart ticketing in Slovenia

MSc Dušan Zalar,

PhD student at University of Maribor,
Republic of Slovenia
 Smart ticketing in Slovenia
• Gain in-depth insight into the national strategy for
smart ticketing deployments

• Understand the regional ecosystem involved and the

varying aims and objectives of each stakeholder to
ensure an efficient deployment in ticketing

• Evaluate the features shaping the demand for smart

ticketing in Slovenia and how they are being met

Presentation reflects author's views based on published facts. Official

view could be different from author's view.

2
 National strategy
• In 2007 Slovenia launched an Integration of public
transport project. The project is EU funded and is
expected to be be completed in 2015
• The main goal of the project is to increase the use of
public transport through
– harmonization of time tables,
– harmonization of fares and
– introduction of single ticket
• Slovenia has no formal national smart card transport
ticketing strategy, the basis for the national public
transport ticketing strategy is within the Framework for
electronic single ticketing standard (Oblikovanje
standarda za enotno elektronsko vozovnico)
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 Methodology
• A simple methodology will be applied to identify
national smart card ticketing strategy from the known
facts

– Present state: Analyse current situation

– Desired state: Set objectives
– The gap: Find the difference
– Options: Identify and evaluate choices
– Implementation: Define the implemenation tasks

4
 Present state –
Organization of public transport
• Modes of public transport in Slovenia are train,
intercity bus and city bus
• Responsibility for organizing public transport is divided
between:
– central government authority for train service,
– central government authority for intercity bus service and
– local government authorities for city bus service
• Public transport network is operated by some large and
almost fifty small bus operators and one train operator
• Most of operators are operating under a concession,
two of them are public companies

5
 Present state –
Public transport infrastructure
• Number of buses/wagons per transport mode
– ~300 city buses
– ~1.100 intercity buses
– ~210 (trains) wagons

• Number of stations per transport mode

– ~6000 bus stations (~11.000 entry points)
– ~280 rail stations

6
 Present state – Fares structure
• Fare structure depends on the authority and is different
for intercity bus service, train service and urban bus
services
• Intercity bus and train services have a distance based
fare structure, while urban bus service have a zone
based structure including flat fare (single zone) and
zero fare (free service)
• Reduced fares (quantity discounts) are in the domain of
operators and differ from operator to operator
• Subsidized fares (monthly season ticket for students,
seniors and persons with disabilities) are in the domain
of central and local government

7
 Present state – Electronic ticketing
• Main operators in Slovenia have implemented
electronic transport ticketing systems based on
contactless smart cards
• Transport ticketing technology is provided by four local
suppliers
• Slovenian public transport network is ungated,
regardless of transport mode
• Contactless smart card issued by one operator is
accepted only by issuing operator and chosen transport
mode
• In most cases contactless smart card is a dedicated
transport card (can not be used for other purposes)

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 Present state –
Contactless smart card
• All transport ticketing systems are data centric using
proprietary data structure and communication protocol
• Contactless smart card ticketing is mainly implemented
for simple fare products such as monthly season ticket,
multiple ride ticket and stored value ticket
• All implemented ticketing systems are prepaid systems
• On board check-in ticket validation is implemented
(using ticket validator or by conductor using hand
terminal)
• Contactless smart card can be reused (purcahse new
season, purcahse new rides, top up stored value)
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 Desired state – The vision
• Smooth travel using public transport across Slovenia
when crossing boundaries between public transport
authorities, public transport operators, modes of public
transport or just transfer from one vehicle to another
vehicle
• Smooth travel should be enabled by single ticket for
the whole journey regardless of transport authority,
transport operator or mode of transport
• Single ticket can be simple or complex transport
product (single ride ticket, multiple ride ticket, season
ticket, students monthly ticket, ...)

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 Desired state – Single ticket
• Single ticket can be interpreted as the possibility to
travel with the same ticketing media without load or
reload of data on ticketing media within whole journey
• According to the definition of single ticket, the
ticketing system can be based on card or account
architecture, does not exclude open loop payments
and other ticketing media like NFC smart phones
• The same ticketing media must be accepted by all
public transport operators and all modes of public
transport - train, intercity bus and city bus regardless
of public transport authority- local or central

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 Desired state – Ticketing media
• There must be two types of ticketing media depending
on ownership:
– personal and
– anonymous
• Personal ticketing media is primarily dedicated for
subsidized and reduced fare rates which are bounded
to an individual and can be used only by named person
• Personal ticketing media contents personal data and is
non-transferable
• Anonymous ticketing media can be used by any person
• Anonymous ticketing media has no personal data and is
transferable

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 Desired state – Ticketing media
• To be cost effective, there may be two types of
ticketing media depending on usage:
– reusable
– disposable (price should be low as possible)
• Reusable ticketing media is dedicated to frequent,
regular passengers; can be personal or anonymous; can
contain any transport product (season ticket, multiple
ride ticket, stored value); is valid several years
• Disposable ticketing media is dedicated for unfrequent,
occasional passengers normally tourists; is anonymous;
can contain only one limited transport product (single
ride ticket, daily ticket and other limited transport
products); is valid only a few days
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 Desired state – Ticketing media
• Primary ticketing media must be a dedicated transport
smartcard
• Secondary ticketing media like:
– bank payment cards and
– NFC mobile smart phones
can be used for advanced ticketing features like:
– pay as you go
• Secondary ticketing media can be accepted by only
some transport operators and some mode of transport
• Secondary ticketing media can support only special fare
products

14
 Desired state – Point of sale
• There must be two types of point of sale:
– self service point of sale and
– agent point of sale
• In general, point of sale must not be limited to
authority, operator or mode
• It must be possible to purchase a single ticket for any
journey in Slovenia at dedicated points of sale
• Personal ticketing media and all ticket bounded to
named person must be purchased at agent point of sale
• At self service point, it must be possible to renew
season tickets bound to named person

15
 Desired state – Fare structures
• Harmonization of fares is one of the main goals of
Integration of public transport project in Slovenia
• The basis on harmonization of fares is done within Zone
system implemetation (Izdelava conskega sistema),
Tariff system implementation (Izdelava tarifnega
sistema) and The model for determining the ticket
prices based on the structure of users (Izdelava modela
za določanje cen vozovnic glede na strukturo
uporabnikov)
• According to available information, the prefered
countrywide fare structure should be a zone based fare
structure

16
 Desired state – Ticket types
• Simple ticket types
– single ride ticket (one way and return)
– multiple ride ticket (one way and return)
– season ticket
– stored value ticket
• Complex ticket types may be composed of simple ticket
types
– Student season ticket
• Any ticket type can be subsidized or discounted
• Student season tickets are subsidized and composed of
a season ticket and multiple ride ticket

17
 Desired situation – Ticket types
• Ticket types for other transport relation services such
as:
– parking,
– park and ride,
– bicycle rent,
– taxi
• The countrywide ticketing system must be able to
update pricing and quickly and inexpensively
introduce new ticket types

18
 Desired state –
Student season ticket
• Students can use the season ticket:
– to travel from the place of temporary or permanent residence
to the place of education (season ticket - unlimited number of
rides within month) and
– to travel from the place of temporary residence to place of
permanent residence (multiple ride ticket – limited number of
rides within one month)
• The journey from origin to destination place
– may consist of several consecutive legs,
– each leg can be operated by different operator and
– each leg can be performed by different transport mode

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 Desired state –
Student season ticket
• Student studying in Ljubljana with permanent residence
in Maribor will take unlimited number of rides for
– city bus in Maribor,
– intercity bus or train from Maribor to Ljubljana and
– city bus in Ljubljana
• Student studying in Ljubljana with permanent residence
in Maribor and temporary residence in Ljubljana will
take unlimited number of rides for
– city bus in Ljubljana
and limited number of rides
– intercity bus or train from Ljubljana to Maribor and
– city bus in Maribor

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 Desired state
• The definition of single ticket is similar to a smart and
an integrated ticket where
– A smart ticket is ticket that is stored on smart card and
– An integrated ticket is ticket that is valid on more than one
operator or mode of transport (all operators agree to a single
fare structure)
• Other terms are also in use
– interoperable ticketing provide travellers with shared types of
contact-less media (IFM project - multi-application card based
arcitecture)
– unified ticket and
– ticketless travel is travel without a formal ticket in physical or
digital form (open loop payment with ordinary contactless
credit card)
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 The gap
• Organizational gap
– Slovenia has no common body for coordination of public
transport and consequently of a countrywide single ticket
implementation
– There is a lack of cooperation between transport authorities,
especially between central and local government authorities
• Volume gap
– The volume and value of sold tickets in Slovenia are relatively
small (Slovenia has 2 milions inhabitants), costs of sofisticated
countrywide single ticket implementation can be too high
• Technology gap
– Functionality of implemented ticketing systems is limited, none
of them are multioperator or multimodal

22
 Options
• Card based architecture
• Open loop payments
• NFC-enabled mobile ticketing

23
 Card based architecture
• Card based architecture transport ticketing system
using contacless smart card seems to be an easy and
cheap way to implement countrywide single ticket at
least to a limited extent
• Card based architecture is used by existing transport
ticketing systems, is well understood by transport
authorities and transport operators, is well accepted by
passengers and is supported by local technology
suppliers
• It should be easy to upgrade and integrate existing
transport ticketing systems into a countrywide ticketing
system

24
 Card based architecture
• Countrywide single ticket system use contactless smart
card as ticketing media where ticket information is
recorded on the smart card (stored ticket or stored
value is updated with each validation)
• The ticket information recorded on smart card is
sufficient for the decision to approve or deny acces to
the service
• The ticket must be validated at entry (check-in) and
can be verified on board by ticket inspector
• Ticket validation at exit (check-out) is not
implemented
• Contactless smart card and ticket data format are
standardized
25
 Card based architecture
• Without check-out validation, a stored value ticket can
not be implemented countrywide, it can be
implemeted only for flat or zero fare service
• At the time all cities with public transport have flat
fare or zero fare structure
• A stored value ticket should be implemented only for
city bus mode of transport (Ljubljana, Maribor, ...)
• In the near future it is expected that urban transport
will expand and flat fare structure will be replaced to
zonal fare structure
• To retain the stored value ticket on city bus with zonal
fare structure, validation at exit (check-out ) shuld be
implemented
26
 Card based architecture
• Technical specifications for interoperable smart card
ticketing
– ITSO
– VDV
– Calypso
– EU standard EN 15320
• The EU standard EN 15320 is complex, the
implementation may be expensive
• Even the full compliance with standard does not
guarantee the interoperability
• Application of the EU standard EN 15320 for single
ticket implementation is not mandatory

27
 Card based architecture
• A simple ticketing scheme should be developed for the
single transport ticket (common platform, security and
data model)
• The ticketing sheme must be prescribed by central
government, all operators should be required to use it

• Key questions about card based architecture

– is there any widespread technical standard (or set of standards)
which guarantee the interoperability
– is it possible to achieve global interoperability with card based
architecture
– is there any other method to achieve global interoperability

28
 Open loop payments
• Open loop payments based transport ticketing system
using bank contactless payment card is sofisticated way
of implementing a countrywide single ticket
• EMV standard must be implemented
• MasterCard PayPass and Visa payWave are the
contactless payments solutions from Visa and
MasterCard
• The issuers of bank payment cards are banks, not
transport operators
• Transport authorities and transport operators have
doubts about using contacless bank payment cards for
fare payment

29
 Open loop payments
• The use of bank payment contact chip cards is
widespread: in 2010, over 2.7 million issued debit and
over 1.5 million credit cards, of which nearly 650
thousand international
• None of the banks are issuing contacless payment
cards, only Banka Koper is ready for contacless
payments
• Banks do not see a successful business model for open
loop payments based transport ticketing system
• Transport ticketing is not enough attractive for banks
to go contactless

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 Open loop payments
• Direct fare payment with a contactless bank credit card
is very convenient for the unfrequent, occasional
passenger
• Foreign turists and business travelers normaly have
credit cards (MasterCard and Visa are very popular)
• The investment and operating cost of open loop
payment transport ticketing is higher than card based
architecture (EMV compatibility, transaction cost)
• According to available information Slovenia is not ready
for countrywide single ticket system based on bank
contactless payment cards

31
 Open loop payments
• Key questions about open loop payments
– is it possible to develop a succesful business model
– is it possible to entirely replace a card based architecture with
bank payment cards
– is it possible to achieve global interoperability with bank
payment cards

32
 NFC-enabled mobile ticketing

• NFC-enabled mobile transport ticketing system is the

most advanced way to implement countrywide single
ticket
• For mobile transport ticketing NFC-enabled mobile
phone operates in card emulation mode - the reader
see the phone as traditional smart card
• With card emulation mode either a card based
architecture or an open loop payments may be
implemented

33
 NFC-enabled mobile ticketing
• NFC chips could be embedded in
– internal circuitry of smart phones
– SD or micro-SD card
– SIM card
– adhesive sticker
• Secure element could be stored on
– SIM card
– SD or micro-SD card
• The issuers of SIM cards are mobile network operators,
while issuers of SD or micro-SD card can be transport
operators or other organizations

34
 NFC-enabled mobile ticketing

• NFC-enabled mobile ticketing provide more

functionality than smart card ticketing
• Digital wallet (purse) is application for NFC-enabled
smart mobile phones that allows users to store
transport tickets, bank payments cards and other
contactless smart cards in digital form on a mobile
phone
• NFC-enabled mobile phone can
• display transport ticket or payment card
• hold several transport tickets and/or payment cards
• select which method to use
• buy and (re)load transport ticket through mobile network
35
 NFC-enabled mobile ticketing

• NFC-enabled mobile phones are just comming to

Slovenian market, conditions for the introduction of
countrywide single ticket system based on NFC-enabled
mobile phones are not yet met

• Key questions about NFC-enabled mobile ticketing

– how to build a succesful business model
– how to achieve global interoperability

36
 Implementation
• Phase approach
– establish a common authority responsible to organize the
integrated public transport
– set up an organization for introduction, operation and further
development of a single transport ticket
– set up a system for authorization, clearing and settlement of a
single transport ticket
– upgrade or replace existing ticketing systems
– implement pilot projects
– start-up countrywide operaton of single public transport ticket
– shape future direction of countrywide electronic ticketing
system

37
 Implementation
• Future direction of countrywide electronic ticketing
system should consider
– open loop payments
– NFC-enabled mobile ticketing
– EU and global interoperability
– integration of booking and ticketing
– long-distance ticketing

38
 Smart ticketing in Slovenia
• Gain in-depth insight into the national strategy for
smart ticketing deployments

• Understand the regional ecosystem involved and the

varying aims and objectives of each stakeholder to
ensure an efficient deployment in ticketing

• Evaluate the features shaping the demand for smart

ticketing in Slovenia and how they are being met

39
 Regional ecosystem
• Organizations involved in transport ticketing in Slovenia
are:
– public transport authorities,
– public transport operators,
– ticketing technology providers and
– passengers

• In the future may be involved also

– Banks and
– Mobile network operators

40
 Public transport authorities
• Central government authority for train service
– Public Agency of the Republic of Slovenia for Railway Transport
• Central government authority for intercity (suburban
and long distance) bus service
– Directorate for Transport at Ministry of Infrastructure and
Spatial Planning
• Local government authorities for city bus service
– Ljubljana (capital city)
– Maribor
– and smaller municipalities: Ptuj, Celje, Kranj, Novo mesto,
Nova gorica, Koper, Murska sobota, Slovenj Gradec, Velenje

41
 Public transport authorities
• All transport auhorities are willing to participate in the
introduction of a single transport ticket
• Public transport authorities expect that the central
government will take initiative and funding of
implemetation of a single ticket
• Ljubljana has special requirements according to
functionality of existing transport ticketing system
(parking, funicular to the castle, Ljubljana library)
• Transport auhorities see a single transport ticket more
convenient for passengers and a tool for increase public
transport patronage

42
 Public transport operators
• Train operator
– Slovenske železnice
• Suburban and intercity (long distance) bus service operators
– Veolia Transport Štajerska d.d.
– Izletnik Celje d.d.
– Alpetour - potovalna agencija d.d.
– Veolia Transport Dolenjska in Primorska d.d.
– Avrigo d.o.o.
– Koratur d.d.
– KAM-BUS d.d.
– and others
• Urban bus service operators
– LPP d.o.o.
– Javno podjetje Marprom d.o.o.
– and others

43
 Public transport operators
• In general public transport operators do not see a clear
commercial benefit to invest in countrywide
implementation of single ticket
• There are some cases of implementing a single ticket in
very limited extent
• Existing concession contracts do not include any
incentives for smart ticketing
• Public transport operators expect that the central
government will take initiative and funding of
implemetation of a single ticket

44
 Ticketing technology providers
• Ticketing technology suppliers
– Margento R&D d.o.o.
– Četrta pot, d.o.o.
– PrinC d.o.o.
• Ticketing tehnology suppliers are competitors, they see
the countrywide single ticket implementation as a
threat to their market share and at the same time an
oportunity to forced competitors out of the market

45
 Passengers
• In Slovenia there is no public transport user association
or other formal body to represent the passengers’ view
of public transport
• According to public opininon research in Slovenia
passengers are looking for countrywide single ticket
which should increase the use of public transport
• The largest group of passengers are students
• The most common ticket type is monthly ticket

46
 Smart ticketing in Slovenia
• Gain in-depth insight into the national strategy for
smart ticketing deployments

• Understand the regional ecosystem involved and the

varying aims and objectives of each stakeholder to
ensure an efficient deployment in ticketing

• Evaluate the features shaping the demand for smart

ticketing in Slovenia and how they are being met

47
 Features shaping the demand
• There is a little evidence on what features are shaping
the demand for smart ticketing in Slovenia

• The features can be identified and evaluated from

different perspectives
– authorities
– operators
– passengers

• The features can be influenced by transport mode

– intercity (long-distance, suburban) bus
– train
– city bus

48
 Authorities’ perspective
• Multioperator and multimodal ticketing
– increase patronage through introduction of single transport
ticket
– provide better transport service (increased frequency)
– increase convenience for passengers
• Automated control of the conditions for the sale of
subsidized tickets
– improve subsidized ticket fraud prevention (student monthly
ticket)
• Automated, comprehensive and accurate ticket sales
reporting
– surveillance over revenue from ticket sales
– calculation of the amount of concession compesation to be paid
– surveillance over the commercial profitability of lines

49
 Authorities’ perpective
• Automated reporting on the use of subsidized tickets
– surveillance over the actual use of subsidized tickets and
consequently setting subsidized ticket pricing

50
 Operators’ perpective
• Detailed data about ticket purchases and ticket
validations - station and time, check-in and check-out
– increase transport service performance and reduce it costs
through better knowledge of passengers’ travel habits and
understanding their needs
• Automated control of the conditions for the sale of
subsidized tickets
– prevent improper sells (one ticket per student only, shortest
possible journey)
• Multioperator and multimodal ticketing
– simplify and optimize the selling process for subsidized student
tickets which are multioperator and multimodal

51
 Operators’ perspective
• On board ticket validators and ticket vending machines
at stops
– reduce cash transactions and dwell time at bus stops
• Direct payment for a ride with ordinary contacless
credit card like MasterCard or Visa
– attract occasional (foreign) business travelers and tourists (who
otherwise would not use public transport) with convenient
ticketing method, particularly in the capital city (must be
economically acceptable)
• NFC-enabled mobile ticketing
– reduce issuing of ticketing media
– possibility to reduce transport ticketing infrastructure, ticket
can be purchased through mobile network instead at ticket
vending machine or in sales office

52
 Passengers’ perspective
• Single ticketing media regardless of transport
authority, transport operator or mode of transport
– provide smooth travel with single ticket for the whole journey
• Multioperator and multimodal ticketing
– provide ticket sels for the whole journey at any operator
(including subsidized student mothly ticket)
• Direct payment for a ride with ordinary contacless
credit card like MasterCard or Visa
– provide the same possibility to buy and pay for transport
service as for any other service, in Slovenia is very popular to
pay goods and services with credit cards

53
 Passengers’ perpective
• Best price option
– provide passenger with flexible pricing method, where
passenger is not required to consider choice of cheapest type
of ticket (multiple ride ticket or season ticket), can be
implemented with stored value ticket or credit card
• NFC-enabled mobile ticketing
– provide ticket purchasing over mobile network, mobile phones
are very popular in Slovenia, students have the most advanced
phones

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More Information

MSc Dušan Zalar,

PhD student at University of Maribor,
Republic of Slovenia

http://si.linkedin.com/in/dusanzalar

email dusan.zalar@gov.si
dusan.zalar@gmail.com
dusan.zalar@siol.net

phone +386 1 478 8103

gsm +386 31 336 987