Subway tokens and leaping forward

I travel a lot for work, mainly in South East Asia. Although I usually take taxis if I am traveling with colleagues, I prefer mass transportation when on my own.

Recently I used the subway in Taipei and Bangkok and could not be more positively impressed. They are clean, runs on time, people are caring for others (elderly, kids, pregnant women) and ads are not too much in your face. And of course, very good 3G and LTE connections, even underground.

What impressed me though is the ticketing system. Both subways are relatively new (2004 for Bangkok and 1996 in Taipei) and have leaped forward technology-wise when compared with older systems. Platforms are all equipped with security doors preventing passengers from falling on the tracks (voluntarily or not), air conditioned, and did not bother with subway tickets. Yes, no tickets. At least not in the shape Europeans and Americans are used to. All tickets are either multi-entry IC cards or tokens, like this one:

Beside the obvious geek factor of playing around with a RFID piece of plastic, it shows a couple of forward looking thinking: future compatibility with additional lines or between subway and other older train systems once they get upgraded, the possibility of embedding the ticket technology into smartphones and other form factors and finally cleanliness (no paper tickets = no littering, durability, more limited long term environmental impact). It is all boils down to more convenience for users in the long term. And gets us close to the internet of things.
Even if you do not speak the language, the token system is instinctive enough to let you find your way around. This simple video shows the efforts that went into making the system easy for foreigners (likewise for Taipei):

When traffic can be bad and moving around in taxis more onerous, this is a good way to help tourists discover the city (spending more money eating and shopping) as well as supporting local workers who can move around more easily and spend more time working and less time commuting.

Making life easier for everybody in big cities (when the global population is becoming more and more urban) is what politicians should be working forward and is definitely a way to support the economy, and more importantly the people in general, and leap frog the Old World, bogged down by legacy systems.

And mass transportation systems are not the only way up and coming countries are leaping forward, telecommunication is too. There not enough money or real reason to develop a wired phone grid in these countries, that is why wireless communication (voice and data) are developing fast (this report is a good summary and this one from ATKearney is more comprehensive). 3G and LTE are everywhere and relatively cheap. Internet access comes through a phone or a tablet screen more often than a computer's and it makes a world of difference. But that will be for another post.

My dear Europe should be worried when looking at up and coming countries like Thailand, Taiwan, Malaysia and Indonesia. There is a lot of exciting things happening there. But I am not sure it even wants to look around. Anyway, I will keep looking for other cool technological implementations. Until next time!