Navigo travel cards with ASK technology replace Carte Orange in the Paris area
22 May, 2006
category: Contactless, Transit
New Navigo travel cards, using ASK’s dual interface contactless technology, have replaced the paper-based Carte Orange passes for mass transit users in Paris and its environs. RATP, Paris’ mass transit authority, SNCF, which operates passenger and freight rail service in France, and other private operators started accepting the new cards this month.
More than 1.5 million Parisians join RATP and SNCF to endorse contactless technology for public transport
Paris–ASK, the largest supplier of contactless cards to the Paris area, is pleased to confirm that Navigo travel cards using its contactless technology have replaced the paper-based Carte Orange for weekly and monthly travel from May 20. The Navigo pass is already used by more than 1.5 million Intégrale or Imagine’R annual travel card subscribers, and the new system is welcomed and endorsed by the RATP , the SNCF and 93 private operators.
World service
“ASK was founded in 1997 to develop and deliver new technology to transport operators around the world,” says Georges Kayanakis, CEO, ASK. ” Transport media need to be tough, reliable, robust and cost-effective for both the operators and their passengers; ASK’s unique technology -a paper inlay with a silver printed antenna inserted into a card body – is the ideal solution.”
Contactless advantage
The new Navigo card is a dual interface (contact/contactless) microprocessor card, a descendant of the early Francile card, which ASK was already supplying to the RATP in 1998. Contactless technology is being quickly adopted worldwide to card issuers who want to reduce reader maintenance costs, combat fraud, customize fare rates over entire networks, and increase passengers flow by up to 400%. With banks also beginning to integrate contactless technology into their own cards, ASK is fast becoming a respected technology partner in the banking sector.
Wordlwide pioneer
“ASK is a worldwide pioneer in the field of contactless teleticketing for public transport,” states Philippe Vappereau, Travel Systems Manager, RATP. “It was the first company to sell contactless microprocessor Calypso cards, and it now provides the majority of the Navigo cards that have replaced the Carte Orange in Paris and the Ile de France.”
About ASK
ASK is a leading supplier of contactless cards, tickets, RFID tags and readers to the mass transit, access control, banking, ID, supply chain and logistics markets. More than 52 million contactless and RFID products are already in service worldwide. ASK’s contactless solutions comply with ISO, ICAO and EPC standards depending on the product. ASK’s manufacturing center is located at the company’s headquarters in Sophia-Antipolis, France with regional offices in Paris and Singapore. For more information: www.ask-rfid.com.
