intro: an essential measure to take when aiming for a seamless intermodal urban transport system is tariff and ticketing integration. For the user, buying several successive tickets for a single journey is a strong disincentive. Hence, harmonising and integrating fares and ticketing facilitate the use of public transport. This is achieved by implementing single tickets valid for all system operators and modes.

The spectacular advances made in computer technology and telecommunications play a vital role here. They offer riders real-time information to ensure smooth interchanges, and solve the problems of fare collection and allocation through smart cards. The smart card is not only a powerful tool for rationalising fares, combating fraud and monitoring traffic, but is also a political and commercial lever and creates a modern, dynamic image for public transport.

what: the Transport Integrated System, named ‘easy-pass’ in Franca, Brazil, provides as its main objectives connections between all neighbourhoods and offers equal service to all the population, so that all users of the public transportation system have guaranteed accessibility and the possibility of using two buses while paying only one tariff.

service optimisation: two feed lines, denominated ‘Circular’, were created for the primary destinations of general public interest such as hospitals, universities, shopping centres, theatres, bus stations, etc. One runs clockwise and the other counter-clockwise. Other objectives included decreasing waiting time, creating new urban sub stations and commercial corridors, and maintaining fare collector jobs. This last was a major concern because job loss in this category would have implied a significant social impact.

strategy: parallel to the project, 280 new bus shelters were installed to improve users' comfort, as well as the construction of a terminal fully adapted to people with disabilities, including lowered guides, tactile steps, and adapted bathrooms.

why: the implantation of an electronic ticket for time control, simultaneous with the change from a diametrical (neighbourhood-to-neighbourhood) system to a radial (neighbourhood-down town/down town-neighbourhood) one, helped to rationalise the system. It became possible to increase the offer in neighbourhoods and in the central area, cutting waiting time in half. Alongside these benefits, another important one is without a doubt the accumulation of data from all users’ movements (payees, exempted, subsidised and cash collection) that allows transit authorities to calculate tariffs in keeping with real conditions.

other examples: worldwide, many cities and regions have implemented or are in the process of adopting an ‘easy-pass’ system. Among others:

• in Africa & Middle East: Cape Town (South Africa); Dubai (UAE);



• in Australasia: Brisbane/Queensland area, Melbourne, Perth, and Sydney (Australia); Beijing, Hong Kong, Nanjing, Guangzhou, Shanghai (more than 100 cities in China have introduced IC card systems for urban public transport); Mumbai (India); Sapporo (Japan); Seoul (South Korea); Singapore; Taipei; Bangkok (Thailand);



• in Europe: The Netherlands is implementing the first nation-wide rollout of contactless smart cards for public transport; Brussels (Belgium); Helsinki, Tampere (Finland); Caen, Lyon, Nice, Paris/Ile-de-France (France); Berlin, Bremen, Hanover, the Rhein-Main region (Germany); Dublin (Northern Ireland); Genoa, Rome/Lazio region, Milan, Naples, Pavia, Trento, Varese, Venice (Italy); Oslo, Sør-Trøndelag County (Norway); Warsaw (Poland); Lisbon (Portugal); Stockholm (Sweden); Cardiff/Wales, Cornwall, Edinburgh, London, Manchester (UK); Barcelona (Spain);



• in Latin America: Buenos Aires (Argentina); Sao Paulo (Brazil); Santiago (Chile);



• in North America: Edmonton, Montreal, Ottawa, Toronto, Vancouver (Canada); Atlanta, Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles, Maryland/Virginia, Minneapolis/St Paul, New York/New Jersey region, Orlando, Philadelphia, San Francisco, San Diego, Seattle, South Florida, Washington, Wilmington (USA).