The 70 coach and bus companies which are members of the the Ile-de-France region Professional Transport Networks federation, OPTILE, now offer their passengers a mixed ticketing solution, with contactless tickets available alongside their magnetic counterparts. It's a major step forward in plans to introduce seamless travel across the region.
Since April 2006, the millions of holders of contactless cards for the Ile de France region have been able to use them on the 1,070 scheduled bus and coach lines of Greater Paris. Contactless ticketing equipment was made available for public use just 15 months after the signing of the contract between ACS and 70 members of OPTILE. A high speed operation given its sheer scale: contactless ticketing equipment installed on 4,000 buses and coaches, and data concentrators and central systems installed in around a hundred depots. The central systems will use wireless technology to handle data exchange between the vehicles and the depots. That should guarantee a maximum data transfer reliability rate – a real challenge in such a complex technical environment.
One central system for all Ile-de-France operators
The introduction of contactless ticketing on OPTILE networks means a tighter check on tickets than simply showing them to the driver and that means reduced fare dodging. The system also ensures precise counting of passengers and therefore allows computerised management of revenue distribution. In the near future, the Ile de France Transport Authority (STIF) will have a central server connected to all of the companies' concentrators. It will then be possible for their data to converge with data from the RATP and the SNCF. All is now set for contactless ticketing to be extended across the region, making Paris' famous carte Orange season ticket – now contactless – more than ever the symbol of smooth-flowing public transport in a region with over 11 million inhabitants.
