The Oyster card is a form of electronic ticketing used on public transport services within the Greater London area of the United Kingdom. It is promoted by Transport for London and is valid on a number of different travel systems across London including London Underground, buses, the Docklands Light Railway (DLR), London Overground, trams, some river boat services and most National Rail services within the London Fare Zones.
A standard Oyster card is a blue credit-card-sized stored value card which can hold a variety of single tickets, period tickets and travel permits which must be added to the card prior to travel. It is also a contactless smartcard which passengers must touch onto electronic reader when entering and leaving the transport system in order to validate it or deduct funds. The cards may be "recharged" in person from numerous sales points, by recurring payment authority or by online purchase. The card is designed to reduce the number of transactions at ticket offices and the number of single paper tickets sold on the London transport network. Usage is encouraged by offering substantially cheaper fares on Oyster than payment with cash.
The card was first issued to the public in July 2003 with a limited range of features and there continues to be a phased introduction of further functions. By March 2007 over 10 million Oyster cards had been issued, and more than 80% of all journeys on services run by Transport for London used the Oyster card.
Background
Operator
The Oyster card system was set up under a Private Finance Initiative (PFI) contract between TfL and TranSys, a consortium of suppliers which includes EDS and Cubic Corporation (who are responsible for the day-to-day management of the system) and Fujitsu and WS Atkins (shareholders with no active involvement in running the system). The £100 million contract was signed in 1998 and was due to run for a term of 17 years until 2015. In August 2008, TfL decided to exercise a break option in the contract to terminate the operating agreement in 2010, five years early. The termination of the contract followed a number of technical failures in the system. TfL, however, stated that the contractual break was not connected to the system failures, but was due to cost savings. In November 2008, a new contract was announced between TfL and Cubic and EDS, which would see two of the original consortium shareholders running the Oyster system from 2010 until 2013.
Brand
The Oyster brand name was agreed after a lengthy period of research managed by TranSys, the company contracted to deliver the ticketing system in London, and agreed by Transport for London. Several names were considered, and Oyster was chosen as a fresh approach that was not directly linked to either transport, ticketing or London. According to Andrew McCrum, now of Appella brand name consultants, who was brought in to find a name by Saatchi and Saatchi Design (in turn contracted by TranSys), Oyster was conceived and subsequently promoted because of the metaphorical implications of security and value in the component meanings of the hard bivalve shell and the concealed pearl; the association of London and the River Thames with oysters and the well-known travel-related idiom 'the world is your oyster'.
With the Octopus card in Hong Kong being the first contactless smart card system in the world (introduced in 1997) there had also been a similarly named prototype.
The intellectual property rights to the Oyster brand originally belonged to the operator Transys. Following renegotiation of the operating contract in 2008, TfL acquired the rights to the brand so that it could continue to use the Oyster name indefinitely.
Technology
The Oyster card is a contactless smartcard, with a claimed proximity range of about 8 cm (3 inches). The scheme is operated by TranSys, and is based on NXP/Philips' MIFARE standard 1k chips provided by Giesecke & Devrient and SchlumbergerSema., MIFARE DESFire is now being rolled out on newly issued Oyster cards starting January 5th 2010. It is the same contactless smartcard as Touch 'n Go card in Malaysia which is mainly used for tollway fares. The technology used for the Oyster card is known as radio-frequency identification (RFID), which is the same technology used in other electronic pass cards like Japan's Suica fare cards and other cards used all over the world. The Oyster card acts as an aerial while the reader acts as a receiver. However this technology means that the cards transmit information whenever they come into range of a reader and it has been suggested that a good reader could read personal details from quite a distance. Aluminium shielding has been suggested by people to prevent any personal data from being read.
In 2008 a fashion caught on for removing the RFID chip from Oyster cards and attaching it to wrist watches and bracelets. This allowed commuters to pass through the gates by "swiping" their hand without the need to take out a proper card. Although the RFID chips were charged in the normal way and no fare evasion was involved, TfL disapproved of the practice and threatened to fine anyone not carrying a full, undamaged card.
Open source architecture
In early 2007, TfL and Deloitte worked together to migrate the on-line payment systems to a more open architecture, using a number of open source components such as Linux, to resolve issues of lock-in costs, updates, incorporation of new security standards of PCI DSS, non-scalability, low and inconsistent quality of service, and slower response time to business changes.
Nevertheless, some proprietary software was used for the scanners in buses and underground stations by EDS and the back-end clustered database by Oracle. These were connected to the online systems by Web services.
The new site immediately helped cut the regular charges for licensing and hosting by 80 per cent by allowing Tfl to shop around for the best hosting deal.
Features
Registration and protection
Oyster cards can be registered or protected for loss or theft. Full registration can be done at a London Underground station, an Oyster Ticket Stop (shop) or a Travel Information Centre: an Oyster registration form must be filled in (either at time of purchase or subsequently). Registration enables the customer to buy any product for the card and to have an after-sales service, and it protects against theft or loss. The customer has to supply a Security Answer: either their mother's maiden name, memorable date or memorable place. All adult Oyster cards purchased online or by phone are fully registered. (This does not include Visitor Oyster cards.)
Oyster cards obtained at stations or shops cannot be fully registered online. However, a customer can protect their Oyster card online by setting up an Oyster online account and recording their card to that account. This allows for a full protection against theft or loss, but the Oyster card will only be able to hold 7 day season tickets and / or pay as you go.
Sales
Oyster cards can be purchased from a number of different outlets in the London area:
- London Underground or London Overground ticket windows
- cash-only vending machines at some stations, they charge £5 for the card (£3 refundable deposit and £2 worth of credit)
- about 2,300 Oyster Ticket Stop agents (usually newsagent shops)
- selected National Rail stations which are also served by London Underground
- Travel Information Centres
- online via the Oystercard website
- by telephone sales from TfL.
A refundable deposit of £3 is paid for all new Oyster cards. A registration form is provided at the time of purchase. If the form is not completed the Oyster card is restricted to Pay as you go and weekly tickets.
Most National Rail stations and termini do not sell or top up Oyster card products; TfL publish a list of the participating stations. At several main line termini, TfL run Travel Information Centres which do sell Oyster.
Reporting
Touch screen ticket machines report the last eight journeys and last top-up amount. The same information is available as a print-out from ticket offices, and also on-board London Buses by request. The balance is displayed on some Underground barriers at the end of journeys that have caused a debit from the balance and can also be requested at newsagents and National Rail stations that provide a top-up facility.
A complete 8 week 'touch' history can be requested from Transport for London: For registered and protected Oyster cards, Transport for London can provide the history for the previous 8 weeks, but no further back. The Oyster website gives details of the most recent journeys charged to pay as you go if and only if credit has been purchased online, but not for other journeys, or those paid for by Travelcard.
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