ISO 24014-1:2021

Overview

ISO 24014-1:2021 - Public transport - Interoperable fare management system - Part 1: Architecture - defines a conceptual, vendor‑neutral architecture for multi‑operator, multi‑service interoperable fare management systems (IFMS). It provides guidance for national and international IFMS designs for surface transport (including subways), focusing on functional roles, logical interfaces, use cases and security requirements while remaining independent of specific physical or organizational implementations.

Key topics and technical requirements

• Reference functional architecture: a generic model describing IFMS logical components, roles and internal/external interfaces.
• Functional domains: management of media, applications, products, security, and certification/registration/identification.
• Use cases and data flows: detailed interaction scenarios between IFMS functions, customer media and third‑party services.
• Security requirements: protection of assets, lifecycle security, key management, monitoring and security lists to ensure trust across actors.
• Identification and numbering: requirements for compact, unique identifiers for systems, applications and products to minimize transaction latency.
• Certification & registration: processes for organizations, components, media, ID and payment services, application and product templates.
• Account and media management: rules for customer accounts, media provisioning/termination, connecting media to accounts and product transfers.
• Clearing and reporting support: requirements for data collection, forwarding and generating clearing reports among actors.
• Annex material: framework examples for mobility platforms (Annex A) and practical PAYG, ID and national implementation examples (Annex B–E).

Note: the standard deliberately does not define the low‑level technical interface or data exchange between a medium and a medium access device (these are covered by other standards) nor the financial settlement mechanics (payments, reconciliation).

Practical applications

• Design and specification of national or cross‑border interoperable ticketing architectures.
• Procurement requirements for vendors and system integrators building IFMS components (account servers, registrars, certification authorities).
• Operational policies for transit authorities to manage media, products and security across multiple operators.
• Foundations for mobility platforms integrating fare management with multimodal travel information.
• Reference for security audits, certification programmes and interoperability testing.

Who should use this standard

• Public transport authorities and operators
• System architects and integrators for fare systems
• Mobility platform designers and aggregators
• Identity and payment service providers involved in transit ecosystems
• Standards bodies and policy makers planning interoperable ticketing deployments

Related standards

The document complements other technical standards that specify the medium–device interface and low‑level data exchanges and should be used together with those technical specifications when implementing a complete interoperable fare management solution.