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Reversing UK mobile rail tickets

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31–40 of 236 posts

Re: Reversing UK mobile rail tickets

#31
post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Kids these days, how dare they use technology, am I right, fellow luddite on the internet? People lose paper tickets. People throw them on the ground. Stations are littered with them. Oh, and people do spend ages looking through their pockets, bags, coats and other places for where their paper ticket is at. You're just being contrarian because you're on a tech website, tbh.

If a mobile phone is now a prerequisite for living, governments should issue them to all citizens, and provide maintenance and replacement. Or just don't expect people who don't own a phone to own a ticket.

Not just a mobile phone, but a phone with either iOS or Android. Plus, a phone with an account with either of two parent companies (avoiding that on Android is possible, but far from trivial). Any "alternative" system is basically a non-starter as all these apps are typically only developed for these platforms, and it's become very hard for any new player to enter the market.

While the duopoly is better than the monopoly of Microsoft Windows back in the day, it's also worse as the reliance on software is much greater, and its become harder (if not impossible) to write your own implementation for $alternative_system.

Re: Reversing UK mobile rail tickets

#32
Coincidentally I started scanning Sao Paulo metro ticket QR codes (if someone feels like reversing it)

s:196;u:296101284;i:14;c:JP4igg/YIyk03lYqnVcjFCQjDldUc7Th82Gjppb89S8I0vlCNIAYpzBgUESmeKmaaf2BHvlkuyd3opXXwEWsujuGqqakb09xrYWVlBeqY97qfwE1bynzs9FbGmG6HxnVmpM6AHROTBZa08ti/0KiR1oyKpZkrucBE9dJsJtz0qg=;x:49;

s:196;u:297172367;i:14;c:pirqKynzF6wa7ttQJRtw8B5SfcQiWL5psEwju5OVjxLwG7hZKgJsii381A0l9hzcxsebxUJrK6Z1ZX22ILd/AMYOSx2DuQ2OHqrP5r8sNuVfMATrYOTbcioISrn/dBLN1vaQxEmZkTxLkE9837NGvsrlP7mF+BWYps3jqA/MfG0=;x:25;

Re: Reversing UK mobile rail tickets

#34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don’t know if they do this in the UK, but using apps also gives the government the ability to profit from breakage the same way gift card programs do. The last time I had a public transport app I had to maintain a balance that could expire. The place that implemented this system also prohibited all other forms of payment as a Covid measure, and for some reason hasn’t reverted that policy yet.

In London you can use a normal contactless debit or credit card or NFC payment on a phone for public transport. This is great for Londoners, and even better for visitors who don't need to figure out what they need to buy or how to top up a card. I don't belive the ticket apps being discussed keep a balance, but I haven't used them myself.

NYC really needs to get the tap to pay working for AirTrain at JFK. I’m not even mad about the ridiculous $8 fare (though that’s another issue) it’s the having to stand in line to purchase a paper card that I won’t use again until I return to the airport to go home.

Re: Reversing UK mobile rail tickets

#35

Nobody who cheers "mobile tickets" has ever watched a guard or ticket inspector do their job. In the UK, a guard with good eyesight and a sprightly, cheerful manner can almost run through the carriages shouting "tickets please!" and see, with a single glance, all s/he needs. Then she gets to the muppets with phones. They faff, fumble and fuss. They scowl at being interrupted watching videos, browsing social media and…

That ticket inspector can also turn a blind eye to invalid tickets (apply their own discretion/favours/whatever), while they'll probably need to follow the official policy with an app-based ticket scan. From the article, it seems unlikely that a data connection is required to validate a ticket, except to prevent the same ticket being shown twice to different inspectors within a short timeframe.

What stops the inspector from turning a blind eye to app-based tickets?

If you want a true technological dystopia solution then the train car should be engineered in a way that nobody gets in or out of the car without a valid ticket. Like, make entrances a double-door, then you gotta swipe your ticket to board, deboard, go between cars while enroute, etc.

Re: Reversing UK mobile rail tickets

#36

Last Covid, I did the same reverse engineering our government's Covid app and found out that the API keys (public and private) were hardcoded in the source code. Never got any response. Edit: Emphasized public and private keys

Where else should API keys be, if they are needed by the app?

Re: Reversing UK mobile rail tickets

#37

Last Covid, I did the same reverse engineering our government's Covid app and found out that the API keys (public and private) were hardcoded in the source code. Never got any response. Edit: Emphasized public and private keys

Where else should API keys be, if they are needed by the app?

Private key should be in the trust region and set up when you make the account

Re: Reversing UK mobile rail tickets

#38
> (“But wait,” I hear you cry, “isn’t getting a persistent device ID exactly what Apple don’t want you to do?” And you’d be right! Technically, I believe the device UUID actually does change between installs, but they store a copy in the device keychain, which doesn’t get wiped when you remove the app. This is stupid, and almost certainly a contravention of App Store policy.)

More proof that Apple's walled garden is a scam: it fails to protect against the thing that its alleged purpose of existence is to protect against.

Re: Reversing UK mobile rail tickets

#39

During the COVID outbreak, my public transit provider began to neglect their fareboxes (partly because everyone was boarding in the rear and didn't bother to pay fares anyway.) I noticed that the boxes were still broken and unmaintained. I put 2 and 2 together and realized that a mobile "upgrade" was coming soon, so I kept my eyes out. And sure enough, I got myself invited to participate in the pilot project with the…

Am I miss remembering or can the nfc mobile train passes in Japan be used even with a dead battery?

Re: Reversing UK mobile rail tickets

#40
post #28

Nobody who cheers "mobile tickets" has ever watched a guard or ticket inspector do their job. In the UK, a guard with good eyesight and a sprightly, cheerful manner can almost run through the carriages shouting "tickets please!" and see, with a single glance, all s/he needs. Then she gets to the muppets with phones. They faff, fumble and fuss. They scowl at being interrupted watching videos, browsing social media and…

I feel the same way about people who use mobile phone NFC payment at ticket barriers on the tube instead of a plastic cards (again via NFC) Using your phone is much slower and there's a significant chance it'll just fail and hold up the person behind you (me).

Last April, I did the credit card tap in NYC. Last month I was there again and tapped my iPhone and never had an issue. It felt just as fast or even faster since my phone is usually more accessible than a given card in my wallet.

I wonder if the Tube’s tap in tap out setup contributes to the issues you see.

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