[LINK] Wireless Smartphone Transport Tickets

[Tom Worthington]

David Lochrin wrote:
> And the costs & benefits would be...?

The hardware cost would be a few hundred dollars for a computer on the
bus. The networking cost would be a few dollars a day for wireless 
transmission of ticket data to and from the vehicle. The major cost 
would be in developing the software and explaing the system to the 
customers.

There would be no cost for ticket reading machines as the passengers 
would provide their own smart phones and use an existing wireless network.

> There would still have to be some form of on-board manual system to
> cater for dinosaurs who didn't have the latest technology...

Yes, smart phones could be used along with existing paper, or magnetic 
stripe tickets. It may also be worth using the contact-less debit cards 
some banks are introducing. The key idea is make use of devices the 
passengers already have, such as smart phones and debit cards, and not 
install a whole lot of new equipment.

The business model behind the smart card systems for NSW and Victoria is 
based on them being a form of e-cash. The passenger has to pay in 
advance for the card and so is loaning the ticket issuing company some 
money they can invest. When the card is used, the ticket issuing company 
gets a cut of the payment. The hope is that these cards will become 
ubiquitous so they can then be used for small payments, as well as 
transport, creating a new revenue stream. However, that all assumes the 
cards actually work as tickets. It might be better for the NSW and 
Victorian governments to give up on the idea of getting this cash from 
commuters and implement a simpler model.

> ... those who did but didn't want to take it to the beach ...

Buy waterproof case for your phone for the beach:
<http://astore.amazon.com/emergency-management-20?_encoding=UTF8&node=63>.
;-)

> ... fallback in the event the Internet failed ... bus moved into a dead spot or out of range ...

With a stored value system there is no need for a connection to the 
Internet to validate each passenger ticket. The on-board computer
can handle this by negotiation with the passenger's phone, as is done 
with smart card systems. The tickets carry a smal amount of credit. It 
is only if a passenger wanted to recharge the credit in their phone, 
from their credit card or bank account, that they would need an data
connection.

> ... whole system would be much more complex & vulnerable than the present arrangement ...

The NSW and Victorian Governments have spent several billon dollars on 
smart card ticket systems, with little to show for it. A system which 
cost tens of millions of dollars and worked for most passengers would be 
an improvement.

> It could produce some amusing moments, though, as hassled commuters
> on the Monday morning bus to work were all peering at their 'phones
> while trying to use them in a lurching bus.

Perhaps it is just the bus I take from the inner west of Sydney into the
CBD, but a lot of those on-board are already peering at their phones on
the lurching bus.

Of course there are ways to make the bus less lurching, with better
traffic management, bus lanes and hybrid buses. Examples are:

* Sydney Metro Bus:
<http://www.tomw.net.au/blog/2008/10/big-red-metrobus-in-sydney.html>.
* Victorian hybrid buses:
<http://www.tomw.net.au/blog/2009/11/victorian-hybrid-buses.html>.


-- 
Tom Worthington FACS HLM, TomW Communications Pty Ltd. t: 0419496150
PO Box 13, Belconnen ACT 2617, Australia  http://www.tomw.net.au
Adjunct Lecturer, The Australian National University t: 02 61255694
Computer Science http://cs.anu.edu.au/people.php?StaffID=140274