'X-No-Archive'
On Jan 25, 12:15*am, "Graham Harrison"
wrote:
wrote in message

...

How many other towns in the country use SmartCard for their transport?
Would it ever be possible to use SmartCard in other networks around
Britain, besides simply for TfL?

Perhaps Oyster could even be used abroad, such as on the Paris Metro?

Many other places use variations of smart cards e.g.http://www.octopus.com.hk/get-your-o...n/index.htmlin Hong Kong. * In
Japan they have Suica (sp?) and a competing system I can't remember the name
of. * They are also using chips in mobile phones as payment/travel devices.

The issue is getting enough people to agree a specification to use
internationally. * As others have pointed out we are having enough problems
rolling out ITSO in the UK. * And international use could imply things like
currency exchange rates. * Then take a look at how long it took the payment
cards to agree the Chip and Pin specification and how long it's taking them
to roll that out.

I'd love to carry around just one card instead of separate credit, bank,
loyalty etc cards and in theory I believe that while it probably isn't
feasible because of hardware limitations today (apart from specifications) I
see no reason why it shouldn't come some day. * But then again is that
really the best solution? * If I can be uniquely and reliably identified why
can't that provide access to all my cards in the same way that when I fly
the fact that I am identified by the airline gives me access to my
electronic ticket? * See, I'd rather not carry anything if I didn't have to.


In Japan, there are a number of major pan-operator smartcard schemes
that are gradually becoming interoperable:

Suica (Japan Railways East)
Icoca (JR West)
Pasmo - rail, bus subway operators in greater Tokyo area (but
excluding JR companies). This replaced the Passnet magcard scheme
which had a smaller number of participants.
PiTaPa - Kansai region 0- numerous operators excluding the JR
companies

The latter works on a post-pay basis - you get direct debited with the
cost of the journeys you've made. Not sure how well it works.

The others are stored fare or commuter pass - based. The stored fare
system is I believe, quite simple - based on additive fares for each
leg of any multi-operator journey. There is no attempt at offering
PAYG complexity AFAIK.

The feature that is apparent from Japan is the degree of co-operation
between operators that underpins these schemes.

DRH