Hoplink: interoperable ticketing for public transport without borders

Hoplink starts from a simple observation: worldwide, 125 cities in 25 countries share the same technology base for their ticketing systems. Entire countries and provinces such as France, Belgium and Quebec use cards based on Calypso technology for their public transport (approximately 150 million cards in total) and the use of these cards is more or less the same in each different transport network.

However, each public transit user is obliged to have a different medium to enable travel in a new city, and each city spends large amounts of money to manage its ticketing system. To make matters worse, this support must be provided by the transport network of the city concerned and often has a duration of use that is out of all proportion to its lifespan.

All transport actors are trying to overcome this problem by conducting interoperability projects, but all are confronted with the complexity of these systems and their sometimes-excessive costs.

The concept

Hoplink has been designed to respond to this problem in the most pragmatic way possible.

A technology adapted to transport issues

Hoplink is based on technology that has proven itself for over 20 years. It has proven its reliability and can handle large passenger flows.

A system that can’t be falsified

The Calypso key system protects 150 million cards worldwide. In order to simplify the system and extend its interoperability possibilities, the single key assigned to a network is replaced by a common key for all players wishing to join the system, as the airline industry is doing with IATA.

The ticket must be attached to a network

The security is identified as issued by the network concerned or one of its partners. Each network can know in an unequivocal and secure way who issued the title present in the medium by signing each title present in the card using a diversified key.

Respect for existing systems

Unlike a bank card or telephone, Hoplink uses the same technology as existing ticketing systems. The current cards allow us to host Hoplink next to the network application.

Easy distribution of media

The Hoplink ticketing application is identical regardless of the network and its memory occupancy is very low compared to the capacities of current cards. These elements make it possible to eliminate additional cost when issuing cards.

The system is virtuous

Each network using Hoplink enhances the attractiveness of the system. As deployments progress, manufacturers will have already accepted Hoplink for another network and no longer need to develop the application. By writing the titles in the same format as that associated with the network, costs are kept under control.

Hoplink, given its design, makes it possible to decompartmentalise the world of transport by allowing other players to issue cards allowing access to public transport. A customer that purchases a tourist pass can thus has access to a medium that can be used directly in several transport networks with or without pre-loaded tickets.

Hoplink, ahead of being a technology project, is first of all a usage project. For this reason, just like the banking schemes, a unique brand and a recognisable logo have been created so that customers can identify very quickly whether they have access to the service.

Hoplink: the reality

The Hoplink application is now widely distributed, with 42 networks having signed the agreement. It is present on all the maps of Belgium, maps of the regions of Brittany, Hauts de France, Grand Est, Occitania, Pass Navigo Easy cards for the Ile de France region, but also all the Interparking cards (812 car parks in 12 countries).

The Compagnie des Transports Strasbourgeois (CTS), operator of the public transport network of the Euro Métropole de Strasbourg (EMS), also decided to accept Hoplink on its equipment during the renovation of its ticketing system, which was completed in 2019.

CTS uses Hoplink in a way that meets different needs for different audiences. Its primary use is interoperability with the TER. The EMS, in close contact with the Greater East Region, allows its residents who are subscribers to the CTS transport network to use TER trains on the EMS perimeter.

Previously, this was managed by the issuance of a paper countermark intended for SNCF inspectors. From now on, the sale of a subscription to a customer residing in the EMS is accompanied by the writing of an SNCF title in the Hoplink application.

Both users and operators are beneficiaries of Hoplink. In a single medium, customers now have the elements enabling them to travel on the CTS or TER network. They no longer need to move around with a CTS card and paper countermark. The CTS no longer needs to manage this distribution of countermarks, which painfully reminds us of the days of subscription coupons. The SNCF can control this card with its own equipment and has been able to set up a solution that can be used in other territories. The countermark is written in a format that has been specified by the SNCF.

The second use is the ability for customers to load any CTS voucher for occasional travellers (e.g. one-way ticket, booklet or 24-hour pass) onto a Hoplink card issued by another network. This is of particular usefulness with the Simplicités de la Région Grand Est cards. We now mainly see maps on our network of the Grand Est region, but also of Belgium, the Hauts de France and recently of the Burgundy region. This feature is particularly appreciated by regular users who can use the CTS network via their usual transport card; they no longer have to manage a multitude of media or make a new purchase when they want travel on our network.

We also use Hoplink in smartphone applications. CTS has developed its own mobile application, which has been downloaded more than 200,000 times. It allows all its subscribers and occasional customers access to its entire price range. The underlying ticketing application used is Hoplink so that it can be shared with other networks.

An agreement has been reached with the SNCF to enable its customers, via its mobile application, to make an end-to-end journey by combining TGV, TER and CTS. In this case, the SNCF sells a CTS ticket in its application in total autonomy and will store it in Hoplink in the same format as our Badgeo card. This allows our validators to accept this title in a totally transparent way. This is also a first that can be applied to other networks.

CTS is also carefully studying the possibility of establishing cooperation with tourism stakeholders. It is very important for this type of player to benefit from a solution that can be extended to other territories without having to make new investments.

These concrete and fully operational examples show the full potential of this application, but the best thing to do is to come and spend a weekend in our beautiful city to see it for yourself. 

Biography

Alain Caffart is the Information System Director at Compagnie des Transports Strasbourgeois (CTS). He has worked for CTS since 2001 (the urban network operator for Strasbourg, France) and has solved a number of challenges for the organisation with his team, for example, changing aspects of internal software for the real-time information system and computerised maintenance management system. His current focus is on customer needs and improving the customer experience.