Smart Thinking For Local Authorities

by Steve Beecroft

Stephen Beecroft, independent smart technologies consultant with Consulting Smart Ltd investigates why to date, only a small number of English National Concessionary Transport Scheme (ENTCS) cards are used for multiple applications by the issuing local authorities.

Background

Under the Transport Act 2000 all English and Welsh Local Authorities were required to issue a travel permit free of charge to any elderly or disabled local resident who applied for it. This permit entitled them as a minimum to half price (concessionary) bus travel within the authority’s area between 9.30am and 11pm weekdays, and any time at weekends and bank-holidays.

Gordon Brown, the then Chancellor, announced in his 2005 Budget Statement that by April 2006 there would be free off-peak bus travel for the elderly and disabled within their home district. Then In 2007, Ruth Kelly unveiled the new English National Concessionary Transport Scheme that, from 1st April 2008, provided the opportunity for everyone over the age of 59, and the disabled, free off-peak bus travel across England. Some authorities provide extended concessions for local residents, for example 9.00am start and later finish

To add yet more complexity in early September 2007 the Department for Transport (DfT) confirmed that the pass should be compliant with ITSO (Integrated Transport Smartcard Organisation) the national transport standards for smart cards. The only exception to this, and DfT have been very clear about this, is London where Transport for London (TfL) enables the London Boroughs to issue the Freedom Pass. The target date for the Freedom Pass to be ITSO compliant is set for 2010.

Whilst all this activity around transport has been taking place a number of local authorities have also issued residents cards that provide the resident access to a variety of locally delivered services such as Library Membership, Leisure Membership, Discounted Parking, Cashless Catering in Schools and e-enabled collection of revenues, such as Rent, Council Tax, Sundry Debt and Garage Rent.

How Does This Help You?

More than eight million English National Concessionary Transport Scheme (ENCTS) smart cards have been issued via every single authority in England outside of London, while London has arguably more smart card schemes than any other region of England. So, English residents are accustomed to smart cards and many of us use one daily.

Now the capability for every local authority to issue a smart card not only exists but is operational. Therefore Local Authorities can now start planning and enabling additional services, such as library and leisure centre access, on the concessionary transport smartcards they issue – but they must be aware the ENCTS cards issued before 2010 may have to be replaced for use with the additional citizen services.

A group of Local Authorities along with LASSeO (Local Authority Smartcard Standards e-Organisation) and SCNF (Smart Card Networking Forum) met in September 2009 at a conference in Cambridge and ratified a specification for the NXP DESFire card type that most Local Authorities are intending to issue from January 2010. LASSeO has published their specification and guidance for encoding mutiple applications on a transport card. The specification includes basic cardholder information, cash collection, parking, identity and entitlement.

In November 2009 at an SCNF workshop in London, transport representatives from Local Authorities across England unanimously agreed that including other services on their ENCTS cards was an efficient way of delivering some services and indeed included in their future plans. And a study undertaken by an independent consultancy commissioned by the London Councils to provide guidance for Local Authorities in London, found that there was a positive business case for a multi-application smart card at borough level and more so at a pan-London level.

In 2010, concessionary card holders could be using their transport smart card to access services at their library, leisure centre, community centre and Town Hall.

Many of the ENCTS schemes were deployed on simple card production only systems, which are perfectly suitable for issuing a card with only one application on the chip and a static print design. This is exactly what the ENCTS card requires for public transport use. However once more applications are included, many schemes will need to be migrated to more comprehensive Card Management Systems (CMS) so that the Local Authorities or scheme operators can efficiently manage applications. Clearly Local Authorities will need guidance and advice from smart card consultants on timing and approach of any decision to migrate. There promises to be a real need for very flexible solutions and therefore CMS providers will have opportunities to consider.

Local Authorities are in the main keen to exploit their existing ENCTS scheme as an additional channel for delivering services to their residents but may well be deterred from pursuing that if it is expensive to do so. Card technology providers will need to nurture this as a long term opportunity, as if a quick return is sought experience shows that the Local Authorities will simply walk away especially given the current financial climate.

So to answer the original question:-

• The residents are comfortable with the use of smartcards and indeed embrace them for their convenience.
• The capability for Local Authorities to issue smart cards not only exists but is operational today and has been for almost 18 months.
• The appropriate smart card technology has been identified and agreed upon to enable uniformity without being anti-competitive.
• The Standards for encoding the smart card have been ratified.
• The Local Authority Business Case for most blends of application is positive and in many cases provided ROI within two years.
• CMS and Card Production suppliers have greater experience gained during the ENCTS launch and also from a number of other multi-application schemes launched in the last 12 months.

In addition, the analysis work required to complete the Business Case will identify how, by implementing a borough wide residents card, the authority will be contributing to National Indicators (NI’s), Best Value Performance Indicators (BVPI’s) and individual service plans which grab the attention of the Chief Executive right through to Service Managers. Whilst this may not be an easily calculated cashable benefit, the significance for the senior stakeholders should not be underestimated.

Why Didn’t Local Authorities Take This Approach Sooner?

Before the concessionary transport cards were launched in England in April 2008, authorities had little time to consider other applications and today very few cards are used for more than bus travel. Although many of the cards were configured so other applications could be added, the announcement from ITSO that Mifare Classic®cards may not be issued after December 2009 put any additional application plans on hold – local authorities did not know what mix of cards they would have in 2010.

Now we are well into 2010, confidence is returning and most councils are opting for DESFire as the replacement and can expect this card family to meet their needs for several years to come – it is more secure, has 4K or 8K storage and additional security features which can be invoked in the future. This makes it possible to plan additional applications with reduced risk of technology change but does require a replacement of the Mifare Classic® cards, so card suppliers should see orders from clients that they sold Mifare Classic® cards to in the last 18 months.

SCNF is working with LASSeO to ensure the encoding specification for the DESFire cards is publicised to Local Authorities, implementation guidance is available, configuration options are understood and support can be provided if required. The specifications have been published on the LASSeO and SCNF websites.

For more information please go to www.consultingsmart.co.uk or email Steve at sbeecroft@consultingsmart.co.uk