Unicard Press Release

Managed solution simplifies administration of smart school travel cards for Devon CC

Web-based system avoids the overheads for local authority transport department

Ferndown,UK, 23 February 2005 - Smart scheme specialist Unicard is supporting Devon County Council's trial of smart school travel cards with a fully managed service based on the Unicard web-based card management system. 1200 pupils at four Devon schools and colleges have now been issued with smart cards containing details of their entitlement to travel on public transport.

Using a managed solution offers major advantages compared with setting up and running an in-house scheme. Implementation timescales are far shorter, and the Council is freed from the administrative and technical burden of running the scheme.

"Our goal is quite simple: we want the undoubted security and flexibility benefits of smart cards, but without the additional administrative and technical overheads of running a card management infrastructure", said David Harvey, Senior Transport Co-ordinator at Devon County Council. "So we were looking for an outsourcing partnership spanning seamless card issuance, database maintenance, and regular reports - and that's exactly what Unicard gives us."

As an example, the council previously had to issue all new and replacement cards itself. Today, requests are reported directly from the administration centre at County Hall using a simple and friendly web interface, and Unicard then manages the issuance of a new card. The Council's
pupil database - of which it retains full ownership - is updated automatically to show the latest card status and the order process using the same web interface.