The Open Standard for Public Transport (OSPT) Alliance has published version 1.0 of its Cipurse open ticketing standard to the public for ‘reading and evaluation.’

Designed to give transit authorities ‘future-proof’ fare collection systems, the Cipurse specification will enable technology suppliers to develop and deliver interoperable fare collection solutions via contactless cards, stickers, fobs, mobile phones and other devices. According to the Alliance, Cipurse separates itself from other proprietary ticketing systems due to its “advanced security technologies” and compatibility with legacy systems.

The Cipurse 1.0 defines an authentication scheme, a secure messaging protocol, four minimum mandatory file types and a minimum mandatory command set to access these file types, as well as specifies encryption keys and access conditions.

Cipurse is built on existing ISO 7816 smart card and 128-bit advanced encryption standards, in addition to the ISO/IEC 14443-4 protocol layer. According to the Alliance, this allows the platform to be used within existing application frameworks around the world.

“Because it is an open standard, [Cipurse] promotes vendor neutrality, cross-vendor system interoperability, lower technology adoption risks, higher quality and improved market responsiveness, all of which result in lower operating costs and greater flexibility for transport system operators,” said the Alliance in a release.

OSPT has also invited all stakeholders in the public transit ecosystem to participate in the alliance. Full members will receive an implementation license and software development kit (SDK) to develop commercialized Cipurse products.

Interested parties can view the Cipurse v1.0 standard here after registering as an evaluator.