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Suica, Japan's First IC Transit Card

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Re: Suica, Japan's First IC Transit Card

#201

Post by anigbrowl »

torton wrote: post #178
anigbrowl wrote: post #166

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Pleasant alternative from a lot of US transit systems, eg BART int eh Bay Area which is the most customer-hostile service I'eve ever used. giant gates that seem right out of a dystopian science-fiction movie, an achingly slow card readers which absolutely force you to break stride no matter how ready you are. Add in the extremely unhelpful station attendants and you've got a recipe for a public transport service that…

> ... giant gates ... There's a big difference in antisocial behaviour and visible mental health issues between Tokyo and San Francisco. "San Francisco’s BART found that systemwide crime fell 41 percent after new gates were installed. Even more impressively, across the ten stations with the most corrective maintenance needs, staff time spent on in-system maintenance fell 96 percent, which suggests that fare evaders a…

Post hoc ergo propter hoc fallacy.

From the underlying press release (emphasis added): BART PD boosted the visible safety presence in the system by doubling officer presence systemwide and ensuring police are riding trains more. This approach is strengthened by BART’s ongoing use of unarmed Crisis Intervention Specialists, Transit Ambassadors, Fare Inspectors, and Community Service Officers.

Safety efforts were also bolstered by the installation of 715 new fare gates at all 50 stations, a project completed in August 2025, four months ahead of schedule.

More to the point, mone of that is relevant to the fact that the giant gates impose a burden on lawful users as well as any criminals they might deter, nor is it relevant to the extremely slow performance of the automated gates themselves. The experience of riding BART sucks for law-abiding paying passengers.

Re: Suica, Japan's First IC Transit Card

#202

Post by globular-toast »

left-struck wrote: post #153
rozenmd wrote: post #56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Same deal with Opal in Sydney - the old school opal card processes a second or so faster than a card/apple pay/google pay that you can just keep walking. Smashed into the barrier the one time I forgot my card.

Something that is amazing about Sydney’s system though is that as a visitor to Sydney you can likely use the train system without needing an app or any sign up. Just use your credit or debit card via nfc on your phone (or the physical one) I was honestly so impressed by that, you mean I can just tap on? Don’t need to stand here outside the gates for 10 minutes entering my info into a frustrating app? Don’t need to bu…

Same in London, at least for Transport for London (TfL) services (including buses and trams).

Re: Suica, Japan's First IC Transit Card

#203

Post by jtokoph »

disposedtrolley wrote: post #192
mikestew wrote: post #118

Earlier quoted context omitted.

a setting in Apple Wallet to set a card to a default quick transit use card Because it's not the easiest setting to find: Settings/Wallet & Apple Pay/Express Transit Card

The Wallet app prompts you to set this up when you initially add the transit card too, IIRC.

It’s also enabled by default now if I remember correctly.

Re: Suica, Japan's First IC Transit Card

#204

Post by klausa »

Zee2 wrote: post #86
aqfamnzc wrote: post #81

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Are you saying that an iphone can be used as a Suica card even with a dead battery? Or just that a discrete card still works when your phone is dead?

iPhones still let you use certain contactless features (like Suica) even when the battery has "run out" (ie., the main OS has shut off). The reserve battery power is enough to run Suica, CarKey support, and FindMy.

I imagine there are only maybe three people as stupid as me to try this, but just in case: it works fine when the battery runs out; but it does _not_ work during the OS update process.

Re: Suica, Japan's First IC Transit Card

#205

Post by ehnto »

rozenmd wrote: post #56
cptcobalt wrote: post #20

If you haven’t experienced suica, it’s like magically fast. Faster than NFC, faster than Apple Pay, faster than tap to pay, faster than Disney magic bands, faster than your work badge. It absolutely floored me every time I used it in Japan and it’s a full payment transaction.

Same deal with Opal in Sydney - the old school opal card processes a second or so faster than a card/apple pay/google pay that you can just keep walking. Smashed into the barrier the one time I forgot my card.

Meanwhile in another city not far away, the cards are instant but the gate has to think for a while. It's inconsistent too, so you inevitably run into it.

I feel either the gate is making international round trip calls through the internet to some SaaS service. Our it's actually doing a face scan and lookup.

Re: Suica, Japan's First IC Transit Card

#206

Post by rimaye »

imp0cat wrote: post #199
flaunf221 wrote: post #126

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> People not in Japan/Singapore/Korea/China should experience what a proper transit card done looks like. In Prague city transit does not have limiting gates. If you bought unlimited ticket, you just walk in bus/tram/metro and that is it. No touching, scanning, showing, nothing. Maybe once a month (or even rarer) you might encounter a patrolling controller who would ask you to show your ticket, but that's it.

> If you bought unlimited ticket And that's the difference. IIRC, you have to periodically top up your Suica card with money which then gets deducted from the balance each time you use it. In Europe, there is no such thing - sure, you can buy a lot of single ride tickets and then use them when you need to, but you have to stamp the ticket when you start each ride, which does seem a little more inconvenient.

> In Europe, there is no such thing

The European public transport system is not some centralised system that should be generalised like this. The system in the Netherlands has worked like Suica for years (but without the extremely fast card reading unfortunately). You simply tap on with your public transport card or bank/credit card and tap out when you get off. Subscriptions, automatic/manual top ups, it's all possible.

Re: Suica, Japan's First IC Transit Card

#207

Post by aldonius »

moorow wrote: post #173
aldonius wrote: post #156

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yep, and it's increasingly common around the world. In Australia, it's also fully rolled out in Brisbane and I believe it's just about finished being rolled out in Melbourne too.

It's now rolled out in Perth too, I think.

Turns out Adelaide too, and Canberra.

Meanwhile Hobart and Darwin are free PT right now.

Re: Suica, Japan's First IC Transit Card

#208

Post by nihonde »

Tor3 wrote: post #65
pknomad wrote: post #57

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's not only magically fast, but it's super useful. You can use it at vending machines + convenience stores anywhere (unless it's one of those old ones that only take cash/coins and print paper tickets) and at the shops as well. People not in Japan/Singapore/Korea/China should experience what a proper transit card done looks like.

I've used a Suica card for many years now. I agree it's both fast and reliable. One summer I was crisscrossing Tokyo by train over several days, using the Suica card, so I got to see a LOT of commuters. Lots of people were in a hurry and would run through the gates (the default state is open, it closes quickly if your card is out of funds or some other problem). Running through the gates while quickly touching the ca…

For a long time in Japan, the physical cards were limited because of IC inventory shortage. There was a big push to get people to use their phones during this time.

Also, travelers beware: some of the special "Suica" sold at Haneda (and maybe Narita, too?) expires and is completely dead after 30 days, even if it has a balance. I found this out the hard way. Buy a proper Suica at Shinagawa or another non-airport station.

Re: Suica, Japan's First IC Transit Card

#209

Post by Gud »

Ok, this might sound great but it's really not.

I live in Switzerland, and they don't use a tap in/tap out system at all. There are no barriers to enter the station, anywhere.

There are multiple ways to purchase a ticket, I usually use the app Fairtiq or the official SBB app, where I swipe right before boarding the train/tram/bus(it's a national system, so even works on the regional networks) and swipe left when I'm done with my travel.

It then calculates the best price for me. If I do multiple journeys, it will know what I should have gotten a 24 hour pass, and subsequent travel is free.

tap in/tap off sucks no matter how good the system is. It is fundamentally a wrong think.

I travel by public transport in many countries, I travel over the world for work, it is my preferred mode of transport. Switzerland has by far the best ideas. Luxembourg is great as well, totally free, but small.

Re: Suica, Japan's First IC Transit Card

#210

Post by sandmn »

flaunf221 wrote: post #126
pknomad wrote: post #57

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's not only magically fast, but it's super useful. You can use it at vending machines + convenience stores anywhere (unless it's one of those old ones that only take cash/coins and print paper tickets) and at the shops as well. People not in Japan/Singapore/Korea/China should experience what a proper transit card done looks like.

> People not in Japan/Singapore/Korea/China should experience what a proper transit card done looks like. In Prague city transit does not have limiting gates. If you bought unlimited ticket, you just walk in bus/tram/metro and that is it. No touching, scanning, showing, nothing. Maybe once a month (or even rarer) you might encounter a patrolling controller who would ask you to show your ticket, but that's it.

In Vienna they don't have gates at all or even much indication where gates supposed to be. My first visit I accidentally didn't pay for my ticket - I'm used to ticket machines being near the gates but I couldn't spot any. I also arrived on a train so I thought that since there was no gates or visible ticket machines between train and subway, maybe my train ticket is valid for a subway trip (happens in some places) but it was not the case.
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