November 14, 2005
Régie Autonome des Transports Parisiens
The Régie Autonome des Transports Parisiens (RATP), which is the public transportation authority in Paris, has teamed up with Bouygues Telecom for a trial in which commuters using the subway and bus systems will be able to use RFID-enabled cell phones as contactless transit cards. The trial which starts in March 2006 will have 150 commuters using wireless phones to purchase travel fare. The payment for the journey will be deducted when users wave their RFID-enabled cell-phones in front of the Navigo RFID-enabled readers installed at 800 subway stations as well as on 8,000 buses.
Bouygues Telecom is providing the facility of adding money to a Navigo account by accessing a website through the i-mode wireless data service site. If this service is successful, Bouygues Telecom could earn commission on the fares purchased using its phones. GSM phones will be provided by NEC. The phones will be equipped with a passive 13.56 MHz RFID chip developed by INSIDE Contactless. The chip, which is also referred to as Enhanced Near Field Communication (eNFC) is interoperable with ISO 14443B, ISO 1443A, ISO 15693, etc.
The transit fare application and the amount credited to a traveler’s Navigo account will be encrypted on a SIM card called Proximera, which has been designed by Navigo. The chip and the card will be able to carry out a secure conversation by using the Single-Wire Protocol technology.
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