Smart Card Alliance Transportation Council Announces Successful Second Year, New Officers and Upcoming Projects

Smart Card Alliance Transportation Council Announces Successful Second Year, New Officers and Upcoming Projects

Princeton Junction, NJ, April 23, 2007–The Smart Card Alliance Transportation Council today announced its second year results, upcoming project plans and new officers, including returning chair, Paul Korczak from MTA New York City Transit. Formed in 2005, the Transportation Council is a focused group within the overall structure of the Alliance that works to help accelerate the deployment of standards-based smart card payment programs within the transportation industry. The new council plans and leadership were announced this month at the Transportation Council in-person meeting in Salt Lake City.

“The successful collaboration among the diverse Council membership led to another productive year for the Transportation Council,” said Randy Vanderhoof, executive director of the Smart Card Alliance. “With strong support from financial institutions, payments processors, transportation authorities, and suppliers and integrators of automated fare and parking payment systems, the Council has successfully undertaken projects examining smart cards for payment across transportation segments, focusing heavily on new payment options that can increase efficiency and convenience.”

In 2006, the Transportation Council had participation from over 100 individuals from 43 Smart Card Alliance member organizations, including transit agencies, chip and card suppliers, transportation system suppliers, systems integrators and financial services providers. A major accomplishment was the publication of the white paper, Transit and Contactless Financial Payments: New Opportunities for Collaboration and Convergence. The white paper attracted broad Council member participation and includes extensive information on new financial industry directions and transit industry requirements to assess how the two industries might collaborate.

“With fourteen major cities in the United States implementing contactless smart card-based transit fare systems, it is an exciting time for the transportation industry,” said Paul Korczak, chair of the Council, and assistant chief officer, MetroCard Sales Operations, MTA New York City Transit. “This year the Council will continue to look at options for open, interoperable fare payment systems through collaboration with other industries, including parking.”

In 2007, the Council plans to publish a new white paper examining transit and financial payment convergence leveraging co-branded multi-application smart cards. Additional topics the Council will focus on in the upcoming year include convergence of transit payment and identity credentialing; drivers for the next steps in transit payments; education; and decision criteria for alternative transit payment approaches.
The Council elected new officers and steering committee representatives in February. New Transportation Council officers are:

  • Chair: Paul Korczak, MTA New York City Transit
  • Vice Chair, Transit: Craig Roberts, Utah Transit Authority
  • Vice Chair, Parking: Ian Newberg, Parkeon

New steering committee representatives are:

  • Chris Cipperly, Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority
  • David deKozan, Cubic Transportation Systems, Inc
  • Jennifer Hale, American Express
  • Manny Menard, Gemalto
  • Mike Meringer, Giesecke & Devrient
  • Michael C. Nash, Affiliated Computer Services, Inc.
  • Burt Wilhelm, MasterCard Worldwide

Returning steering committee representatives are:

  • Willy Dommen, Booz Allen Hamilton
  • Tim Weisenberger, U.S. Department of Transportation/Volpe Center

Also serving in a non-voting, advisory capacity are:

  • Mike Dinning, U.S. Department of Transportation/Volpe Center
  • Greg Garback, Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority
  • Martin Schroeder, American Public Transportation Association

The Transportation Council is open to participation from any organization that joins the Alliance and the Council. For more information, please visit https://www.securetechalliance.org.

About the Smart Card Alliance

The Smart Card Alliance is a not-for-profit, multi-industry association working to stimulate the understanding, adoption, use and widespread application of smart card technology.

Through specific projects such as education programs, market research, advocacy, industry relations and open forums, the Alliance keeps its members connected to industry leaders and innovative thought. The Alliance is the single industry voice for smart cards, leading industry discussion on the impact and value of smart cards in the U.S. and Latin America. For more information, please visit https://www.securetechalliance.org.