[LINK] Wireless Smartphone Transport Tickets

[Ash Nallawalla]

For god's sake don't suggest a technical option to government servants. The
price will go up, there will be delays and it will go wrong. Too late, that
was Myki.

My experience of public wi-fi (paid or free) has been negative. There are
too many variables to go wrong and not enough staff who would be authorised
to reboot the device (ever had the hotel wi-fi fail?). When it works, it's
not fast enough to be usable. If a single train has just 50 wi-fi users
listening to streaming radio or watching video (never mind iPhone app
downloads), I'd expect wi-fi to be unusable.

Boston's Muni Wifi Woes Exacerbate the Digital Divide
http://www.openmediaboston.org/node/102

> Scott Howard wrote (was: "Re: [LINK] more myki woes"):
> >... Singapore has completely variable fares for both Rail and Bus,
> > which depend on exactly where you get on and off, not unlike Sydney.

I have not understood why we are "different from other cities therefore we
need a custom solution". What is so different about our situation that makes
us better than others, thus preventing us from buying an existing solution?
And since this will keep us different from other cities while Labor is in
power, will we see something better in our lifetime?

> From: Tom Worthington
> Given that so many people now use smart phones on public transport,
> perhaps these could be used for a ticketing system. The passengers
> could be provided with free, or low cost WiFi, as an incentive to use
> the system.
> 
> Some transport companies are providing free wireless Internet access
> on-board for passengers. An example is the Cambridgeshire Guided Busway
> (UK) <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cambridgeshire_Guided_Busway>.
> When completed in 2010 

Delays:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cambridgeshire_Guided_Busway#Delays

Over budget:

"By December 2009, the project had been forecasted to be £1.3 million over
budget."

> If a bus, train or tram is already equipped with a WiFi hotspot, then
> just a small computer would be needed for ticketing. When the passenger
> boarded the vehicle they would activate their phone and use an app, or
> web interface, to get an electronic ticket from the onboard computer.
> For frequent travellers this could be one button push.

How does a ticket inspector go around checking the e-tickets on these
phones? Would people hand over their phones on demand and hope it isn't
dropped? Since this idea has the ticket being dispensed inside a carriage,
how does a turnstile distinguish a fare evader from someone with an e-ticket
in their phone?