TfL's Oyster tackles queues and fraud

This month, the first phase of Transport for London's (TfL) ambitious Oyster plan went live, taking the first major step towards replacing the city's existing travel card system with a plastic smartcard.

Initially, the system will allow commuters to pass through security gates faster by simply waving their smartcards at the thousands of touch pads that have been installed across the capital's public transport infrastructure.

And this could become even easier to use: TranSys, the consortium behind Oyster, says it could be feasible within a couple of years to put add a chip to mobile phone SIM cards, letting commuters pass through security gates by simply holding their phone near the touch pad.

Right now, the Oyster scheme provides a number of immediate advantages.

'It will help to reduce fraud and speed up queues at security gates,' said a TfL spokesman.

It will also provide TfL with more information about the public's travel patterns.

'And in a couple of years, we could have a cash-less public transport system for London,' added the spokesman.

But what's more interesting is the range of applications that can be rolled out on top of the smartcards once they're in wide public use.

Initial additions could include low-security basic government services, such as libraries, leisure facilities or parking payments.

And once the platform is proven, more complex and secure applications would be added, such as benefits payments or school truancy reduction schemes.

A large user base is expected to develop rapidly: the TfL says that within a year, all 350,000 monthly and annual travelcard holders will have been converted, as well as other early adopters.

Various challenges still exist. As more schemes and applications are introduced across the UK, incompatible smartcard standards could mean that users end up carrying an assortment of separate cards for different systems.

Local authority group London Connects is working with TfL and other public sector organisations across the capital to ensure that any applications can be added to any card, regardless of who issued the card or the type of hardware it features.