SmartRider is the contactless electronic ticketing system of the Public Transport Authority of Western Australia. The system uses RFID smartcard technology to process public transport fares across public bus, train and ferry services.
A typical SmartRider smart card
SmartRider processor at Perth Station.
SmartRider fare gate at former Joondalup line platform, Perth Station
Several "Did you tag off?" notices displayed at the fence and the ground
A smart card (SC), chip card, or integrated circuit card, is a card used to control access to a resource. It is typically a plastic credit card-sized card with an embedded integrated circuit (IC) chip. Many smart cards include a pattern of metal contacts to electrically connect to the internal chip. Others are contactless, and some are both. Smart cards can provide personal identification, authentication, data storage, and application processing. Applications include identification, financial, public transit, computer security, schools, and healthcare. Smart cards may provide strong security authentication for single sign-on (SSO) within organizations. Numerous nations have deployed smart cards throughout their populations.
Finnish national identity card
One of the first smart card prototypes, created by its inventor Roland Moreno around 1975. The chip has not yet been miniaturized. On this prototype, one can see how each pin of the microchip (center) is connected to the exterior world by a copper connector.
First smart card manufactured by Giesecke & Devrient in 1979, already with the finally standardized dimension (ID-1) and a contact area with eight pads (initially on the upper left corner)
4 by 4 mm silicon chip in a SIM card, which was peeled open. Note the thin gold bonding wires and the regular, rectangular digital-memory areas.
