The Electronic Transactions Development Agency of Thailand joins OSPT Alliance

GERMANY: The Open Standard for Public Transport (OSPT) Alliance announced that the Electronic Transactions Development Agency (Public Organization) or ETDA has joined the OSPT Alliance as an associate member.

Established to develop, promote and support electronic transactions in Thailand, the ETDA sees the CIPURSE open security standard as a key component in providing the industry with an open, vendor-neutral standard that can be used to develop a country common transportation ticketing system over the next four years.

“The Thai Common Ticket Project is a very important part of the strategic mission of the government of Thailand to improve the transportation infrastructure throughout the country, and the goal is to have this implemented to follow the plan of Thailand 2020,” said Surangkana Wayuparb, CEO of the ETDA. “Through the support and cooperation offered by the OSPT Alliance, we can provide the transportation industry in Thailand with the flexibility of an open security standard they can use instead of proprietary solutions and avoid vendor lock-in as they implement this national infrastructure.”

The Thai Common Ticket Project will allow commuters to carry one ticket for access to transportation systems through Thailand.  The government of Thailand has targeted public transportation improvement as one of its primary missions for the upcoming Thailand 2020 Project. The creation of a transportation infrastructure investment plan is an important part of this project, and will result in greatly expanded service.

Rail transportation in Bangkok, for example, will be increased within seven years from 4 lines with a total distance of 80 km to 10 lines with a total distance of 410 km. When considering a common ticketing technology for this expanded transportation infrastructure, it will be important to ensure that the migration from the current fare collection scheme to a new one maintains interoperability.