History: The emergence of the ticketing standard in Europe
The Hamburg Transport Association (HVV), the first transport association in the world, was founded back in 1965. This created the basis in Hamburg for using all means of public transport in a network region with one ticket. This innovation still characterises local transport in Germany today and simplifies mobility in both urban and rural areas.
Until 2002, there were more than 140 transport companies and transport associations in Germany, all of which used different media, card types, concepts and system components. This made interoperability virtually impossible and the use of public transport very complicated for passengers across fare boundaries. This diversity also made it difficult for manufacturers to mass produce system components and ticket vending machines. In 2002, the Association of German Transport Companies (VDV) therefore decided to create a standard for transport companies that would standardise ticket purchasing and ticket control throughout Germany.
The development of the VDV core application
A solution was sought to ensure interoperability within each individual transport association, as well as between different transport associations or between means of transport from different transport companies. Without prescribing standardised fares or a standardised system for all.
Passengers should be able to use public transport throughout Germany with a single application initialised for public transport on a mobile carrier medium (e.g. a chip card).
Hence the name: VDV core application.
In 2002, 14 transport companies and associations set up their own research project called "Interoperable VDV core application", which was funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research. The project partners were the Rhein-Main Verkehrsverbund, the Verkehrsverbund Oberelbe, the Fraunhofer Institute for Transport and Infrastructure Systems IVI and the VDV-Förderkreis e. V. (VDV Sponsors' Association).
Partners from industry such as Cubic Deutschland, Infineon, Siemens, T-Systems and TEWET were also involved. The research project also provided the basis for certification of the components used in core application systems.
The emergence of the VDV eTicket Service (VDV-ETS) and the product (((eTicket Deutschland
Two years later, in 2004, the "VDV-Kernapplikations GmbH & Co. KG" was founded. It is the publisher of the EFM standard and provides the organisational and contractual conditions and specifications for (((eTicket Deutschland. It also operates the registration and security management of (((eTicket Deutschland. Since 2014, the former "VDV-Kernapplikations GmbH & Co. KG" has now been called "VDV eTicket Service GmbH & Co. KG", or VDV ETS for short.
The VDV core application, or VDV-KA for short, is a specification that describes data and security management as well as interfaces in electronic ticketing for public transport in Germany. It serves transport companies and transport associations as a construction manual for eTicket systems. It is the only recognised standard for German public transport tickets and therefore the technological core of electronic fare management (EFM).
Transport companies wishing to use this open standard sign a participation agreement with the VDV eTicket Service and thus become participants in (((eTicket Deutschland. This authorises them to use the VDV-KA specifications commercially and to access the common background systems. The transport companies and transport associations themselves decide which functional scope of the specification they use and which expansion stages they offer their passengers.