Norway Osloxs public transport authority has awarded a contract to Thales e-Transactions to write detailed specifications for a multimodal contactless smart card fare collection system for its urban network. The project includes 72 LRVs and 101 metro stations. (SIMILAR TO NEW YORK'S, "METRO CARD").
A similar system to this has been on test in London on LT (the tube), with contactless ticket gates and cards that you can "recharge" with money. They are viewing it as the eventual replacement for the current system of card tickets and gates.
Martyn, there are great things, and limitations to our smart card. The fare on a NYC bus or subway is $1.50. You can transfer free from bus to subway, bus to bus, etc. (One time per original swipe). But, we also have express buses that cost $3.50, and do not accept the card. Express buses are run both by the MTA and private lines. It's just an inconvience to those who use both means of transit. And that's a lot of people! One good thing I use is something called "TRANSIT CHECK". I get one card for a year and the cost for 20 working days ($30) is deducted from each paycheck. (No token/Metro Card lines at the token booth or fumbling with the machines that dispense the cards). It is also deducted from my taxes at the end of the year. I can use it 24/7 as much as I want. But can't swipe it at the same location for 18 minutes. Keeps me from giving a free ride to a second person at the same spot. I use it all the time on weekends which is great. There is also a daily FUN PASS that costs $4 and you can use it as much as you want in 24 hours. Again, you can't pass it back to another person for 18 minutes. If you put $15 on a card, you get a free ride also. You can put as much as $80 on a card and get a bunch of free rides too. The main problem, besides people being slobs, is the insane littering of the tracks, platforms, streets, sidewalks......with USED METRO CARDS!!!!!!!!!!! I counted at least 40 on the tracks in front of me one morning. I don't remember tokens littering anything!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! We'd snatch 'em up and slam 'em in the slot!
London has a somewhat more confusing fare structure, with single and return fares for different distances being different prices, and the same again on buses and mainline rail. You can get a one day ticket (called a LT card) for LT services (Tube, bus, Docklands light rail, Croydon tram) or after 9.30am (or maybe it's 10am now?) you can get a one day travelcard, which is amazing value as you get all of that plus mainline rail services in the London area as well! But all of those are traditional card tickets that get put through the gates. These new systems have a rechargeable (with money) plastic card (a bit like a credit card, but it holds value) that you pass across a reader on top of the gates. There is talk that you will even be able to use the cards to buy a snack at station kiosks! They should eventually reduce the numbers of the card tickets sold, which should reduce the littering issue, that's not quite so bad in London as with single and return journeys the gates keep your card ticket when you exit the system! Oh, London's also have a "time out" before using the ticket at the same station
Talk about a time out, I can't imagine buying snacks at every subway station here........we've talked about furry critters in our subways before! It's bad enough there are some newstands in stations that sell litter, I mean snacks.
Sounds much like the Octopus card used in Hong Kong. It's available for trains (KCRC and MTR), buses (most of the main players if not all) and the ferry services. It's rechargable at vending machines and is passed over a sensor mounted on top of the turnstile. Works well in a wallet but the local lasses' penchant for placing them in the bottom of their handbags (to drop on top of the sensor) makes for a bit of hit-and-miss operation. Magnetic stripe paper tickets are still used but they are taken by the turnstiles at the end of the trip saving the littering problem in that regard. Getting slightly off topic but keeping with the mention of litter and snacks... the vending machine manufacturers and Coca-Cola were considering trialling machines on Sydney (Oz) stations where you could buy a drink or snack using your mobile (cell) phone. You'd call the machine and 'order' via the phone's keypad and it would be charged to your phone bill. Now, how many kids have parent-supported mobiles, hmmm?
