Gate with smart-card reader

This section should be read in conjunction with the following sections:

Passive gate or turnstile which describes the general technology, application and benefit/ cautions of gates and turnstiles.
Contact smart-cards, Contactless smart-cards, EMV-authorized cards, and Machine readable applet which describe the technical and application aspects of various types of smart-cards, and applets used for NFC.
Smart-card reader, and Applet reader for phone or PDA which describe the technology aspects of smart-card readers and NFC-based readers, and how they are used in practice.

This section only considers the specific aspects associated with use of smart-cards with gates and turnstiles. Machine-readable applets based on NFC are included in this section as, from the gate and turnstile perspective, there is no significant difference.

All four of the ticketing media (contact and contactless smart-cards, EMV cards and NFC-based applets) work on the same principle as far as the gate or turnstile is concerned:

A secure microprocessor-based device communicates with a secure card reading device when the card is inserted or placed in close proximity to the reader.
The reader is linked to a secure processor device which contains the application software required to communicate with the card/device, apply the rules and data management associated with the validation or fare collection, and transfer data to the card/device and to any supporting system.
When the reader (or more correctly, its associated processor) has verified the validation or transaction, a signal is sent to release the gate.
Transaction data is stored for planning, administration, revenue clearing and settling and, where relevant, post-event billing of the customer.

As with magnetic-stripe and bar-code readers, there are two main options

The smart-card reader is embedded in the gate or turnstile. This is easier to do than for the other reader technologies, as the components required for smart card and NFC reading are compact and do not require a large volume. Even if it is not possible to fit the reader within the gate mechanism, it can be mounted on top of the gate entry as a disk or ‘target’.
The smart reader is a stand-alone unit, with a cable connector to the gate / turnstile release mechanism. This might be a better solution if there is no suitable volume or surface area in which to embed / mount the reader. In some cases, the gate design might indicate that the ergonomics of customer movement would be better served by having the reader somewhat in advance of the gate. In other cases (rare), the smart card reader might require some buttons for customer options, in which case the reader needs to be packaged as a larger unit.

The application, fare product range and the functionality of the smart card and NFC reader used in this mode is broadly comparable to those already described in the sections on smart-cards and machine-readable applets, and their associated readers.

Benefits of gates and turnstiles with smart-card and NFC readers (relative to passive gates or turnstiles) are:

The gates can accept the smart-card and NFC-based applets, and hence support a wide range of fare products.
Secure transactions and electronic money can be supported.
When correctly used, can facilitate rapid customer throughput.
Cash is removed from the system.
Full transaction data is generated.
When tickets are validated on exit as well, the correct tariff can be calculated thus eliminating opportunities for overriding.
For new gates, most will have been designed to accept smart-card readers. They will have appropriate ports, power connectors, and the ability to interface with smart-card readers.

Cautions with regard to gates and turnstiles with smart-card and NFC readers (relative to passive gates or turnstiles) are:

For existing gates, additional components must be purchased, integrated and installed. This can present significant challenges where the gate did not have provision for interfacing with machine readable card accepters, or had limited processing power and memory.
The technical cautions with regard to smart-card readers apply.
Additional maintenance requirements, although these would be less burdensome than for other ticket reader types.