Edición No. 9 - Andinatraffic

Por: Antonia Candel Bello
1.1 Fare Media Types
The five types of cards usually
used in transport applications
are: barcode ticket, magnetic
card or ticket, contact card and
contact less card and the combination
of the last two ones. The
main features of each type are:
ANDINATRAFFIC - EDICION No. 9
Transporte y Tráfico
Fare Media Technologies in Transport Applications
According to the requirements
indicated in the Automatic Fare
Collection Specifications (‘HHR-
LO-AF-403-SYS-001-D1’), the
ticket technology has to guarantee:
• Automated access control.
• High performance for passenger
flow (through the gate).
• High security to prevent fraud.
• Cost effective solution for
equipment cost, maintenance
and ticket stock.
• Long lasting investing with
commonly adopted field proven
technology.
Neither magnetic nor barcode
tickets would guarantee a high
performance for passenger flow,
as the operation speed is rather
slow compared to the speed
typically required in gate access
transactions (not only for the
processing time but also for the
time needed to insert or place
the ticket in the reading device).
In addition, their security level is
low and, for the magnetic tickets,
the equipment and maintenance
costs are high. On the other
hand, both kinds of tickets are
cheap and commonly adopted
field proven technologies.
Regarding the contact IC cards,
it is not a cost effective solution,
as the tickets are very expensive
and the contact surface of the
cards and the readers do not
have a very log life due to the
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