ITSO AMS HOPS, ITSO Part 11, and Account Based Ticketing (ABT) Systems, Development and Services

The AMS-HOPS is the core ITSO component which acts as the key conduit between all other elements of the ITSO System and wider Ticketing environment. There is a great importance on the ability of the system to provide a reliable means of generating, hosting and exchanging data with various ITSO and non-ITSO components through both defined and open APIs, but which at the same time ensures that there is full transparency of the activities which is undertaken through user accessible views into the HOPS and high quality reporting and data outputs.

An ITSO Part 11 solution enables the customer to download smart products or top ups immediately to a remote device such as an NFC enabled phone or a smartcard via an NFC enabled phone. An ITSO Part 11 solution also enables a number of other retail channels and collection points to provide the customer with a comprehensive network of retail sales and almost immediate fulfilment to their smartcard. The Part 11 solution will work in a number of ways, with a variety of links into scheme solutions being possible to support the customer with a range of key functionality, including: 1. For the customer - to be offered a seamless and instantaneous option for purchasing new products and topping up existing ones. 2. For the scheme - to have immediate and varied retail options that integrate and interact with 3rd party systems providing customer and card information including automatic fulfilment of ITSO tickets purchased and topped up. 3. For any ITSO smart product - on any Card Media to be delivered through Supplier delivered media and product configuration tools by the SAM Member. 4. The ability for the payment options and requirements to be managed under the control of SAM Members predefined business rules. 5. Clear and consistent branding options, accessible, easy navigation and appropriate security. 6. The provision of Client Software to facilitate testing SAM Member customer services and small scale scheme support by providing links to the back office systems which will allow SAM Members to add products to smart cards.

A key part of the role of SAM Members is to encourage public transport users and potential users to travel sustainably using public transport across all modes including buses, metro, rail and ferries. Customer research shows that a barrier to travel can be the complexity of ticket offerings that are available. SAM wishes to provide for its members, an ability to call-off Software to move their current ticketing proposition, such as Pay As You Go (PAYG) from a "Truth on Card" solution i.e. where the capping takes place dynamically on the card and the customer can always see their balance, to one where the fare and capping calculations are carried out in a back office system - "Truth on Server". The reasons for this move include the fact only a small number of caps can be supported under a current PAYG solution, where "Truth on Server" would allow for an unlimited number of caps to be applied across modes and operators. In addition, this technology update would result in PAYG being capable of being accepted on rail. We are seeking back-office suppliers to work with SAM Members to develop and implement a core system that will allow the transition from a PAYG product to a Truth on Server solution. Initially the transaction types will be ITSO based, as ITSO is the common standard that is installed on all public transport for all SAM Members. In common with other areas, we would expect the solution to demonstrate an understanding of other potential ticketing tokens for a full Account Based Ticketing platform. The new back-office system will be the core system as it will be needed to receive details of customer journeys and be able to calculate fares due and appropriate caps to be paid. In addition, the system will need to be able to calculate the amounts due to operators as a result of their participation within the scheme. The nature of cap calculations and operator reimbursement will need to be varied so will have to be based upon configurable rules. It is expected that potential suppliers will need to have proven and mature technology solutions for the outcomes sought with fully supported and managed digital services that we can integrate into our existing digital platforms. While some public transport is operated directly by a SAM Member, other elements are operated by independent bus and rail companies. The system will need to interact with these external systems with the minimum of disruption to third party public transport suppliers. Key functionality we are looking to include are: • Receipt of ITSO based journey transactions including Tap On/Tap Off when available. • Processing of ITSO Tap Off messages on bus. • Holding of fare tables/access to fare tables for all public transport modes. • Fares to be able to use innovate fare calculation methods such as distance-based fares. • Holding of fare caps. • Fare caps to be able to be calculated across different capping periods including days, weeks, and longer periods to be defined. • Fare caps to be available for individual operators, modes as well as multi operator and multimodal caps. • Caps may also be set by other factors such as time of day or other parameters including avoiding peak routes. • Management reports available to the SAM Member and individual operators. • Support registered and unregistered customers. • Apply different levels of caps based upon a concession held by a customer eg child. • Be able to flag up when an account is considered to have a low balance so that certain systems can notify the customer of that fact. • Be able to identify when an account is in arrears and the relevant product needs to be blocked. This may vary for registered and unregistered customers. • Processing of late data received from operators together with customer challenges and Tap completions to ensure that caps charged, and operator reimbursement reflect the updated view. • Calculate reimbursement due to operators according to definable business rules which may include top slicing of individual or pooled cap revenue, distribution by mode or operator according to any of the parameters known to the system. • Integrate with existing customer systems provided by a SAM Member including revenue collection and customer messaging as well as app and web portal interaction. Depending on the solution chosen we may need the provider to supply a customer processing element as part of the solution. • Secure accessible and robust APIs.