E-Ticketing in automated fare collection (AFC) systems is used to automate the payment and access control in public transportation.
Since their introduction in 1997, contactless smart cards have become the standard fare media in AFC systems, though many systems support multiple media types.
MaskTech extended and qualified its Common Criteria certified secure operating system MTCOS Professional for the public transport / eTicketing system in Germany. The system is based on the VDV-KA (Verein Deutscher Verkehrsbetriebe - Kernapplikation) standard. VDV-KA is organized and maintained by the German transport association (Verband Deutscher Verkehrsunternehmen) and used by all major public transport companies in Germany.
It defines data structures and interfaces for the fare management and eTicketing solution, which is implemented on a Common Criteria certified public key based smart card controller. VDV-KA guarantees interoperability across the whole German terminal installations and backend system.
MTCOS also includes support of the following industry standards for E-Ticketing systems:
- Mifare CLASSIC
- Mifare DESFIRE