Eleven Kanto stations to begin mutual use of the Credit Card Touch Ride service ・Odakyu Electric Railway Co.
Odakyu Hakone Co.
Keio Electric Railway Co.
Keihin Electric Express Railway Co.
Sagami Railway Co.
Seibu Railway Co.
Tokyu Corporation
Tokyo Metro Co.
Tokyo Metropolitan Transportation Bureau
Tobu Railway Co.
(Minatomirai Line)* There have been operators that have supported touch-sensitive payment for some time. These are the companies and stations marked with “*” in the above list. However, in principle, this was limited to use within the company’s own lines (with the exception of the Minato Mirai Line and Tokyu Line). Therefore, when changing trains at connecting stations, or when riding across multiple companies due to interactive direct service, touch-sensitive payment could not be used, and paper tickets or transit system IC cards had to be used. Now, however, it is possible to use touch payment even when transferring between the 11 companies.
The procedure for entering and exiting the terminal will remain the same even after the exchange is made mutual use. However, as those who have already used touch payment at domestic and international transportation systems will know, the response may seem a bit slower than that of a transportation IC. It is important to touch the card firmly to the reader and do not release it until the sound is heard. If you access QUADRAC’s website “Q-move” and go to “My Page” to register as a member, you can check your boarding history. There is no difference between this system and the transportation IC system in that you do not need to buy a paper ticket from a ticket machine. If you already own and use a transit system IC, you can simply use that IC. Given these circumstances, it is thought that the touch payment system will be useful mainly for users who do not have a transit system IC, especially for visitors from overseas. In fact, at the press conference, Mr. Takayuki Ogawa, Tokyo Metro Representative Director, Senior Managing Executive Officer, and General Manager of the Railways Division, stated that the company is planning to improve convenience for visitors to Japan, saying, “We hope to eliminate the situation where visitors to Japan are standing in line in front of ticket vending machines. If that is the case, it is meaningless unless they are aware of its existence. Therefore, Tokyo Metro is planning to make announcements through its official multilingual website. However, each operator will differ in what part of the service they expect to benefit from. The common denominator across the board is “promotion of train use through improved convenience. Also, if the use of ticket vending machines decreases, the number of machines can be reduced, which is a direct benefit in terms of cost savings. In addition, some users may find merit in the fact that they do not need to recharge their tickets, since they are paid later.
New Fare Calculation System for Mutual Use Why was mutual use not possible in the past? The reason is that the scale and complexity of fare calculation would increase significantly if mutual use were to be realized. For example, if one were to focus only on Tokyu Corporation, it would be sufficient to have fare tables for Tokyu Corporation and each station. However, if mutual use is to be realized, the fare calculation load will increase by an order of magnitude, since the scope will be expanded to include all stations on all lines that can be accessed within the rachis. In addition, if multiple routes can be selected, the shortest route must also be calculated. Therefore, a new fare calculation system has been developed for the new inter-use system. The system uses a ticket gate to record the entry and exit of passengers, and sends the data to the fare calculation system to generate a number. Since the touch-tone payment is made after the fact, it is sufficient to be able to generate fare figures before the billing is finalized. In this respect, the hurdle is higher for transportation system IC cards, which require immediate fare calculation. Also, post-payment may have the advantage of making it easier to apply for discount services. For example, the Yokohama and London subway systems have a cap system, which means that the maximum daily payment limit is not exceeded when using the touch-touch payment system.
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