Page 199 - 捷運技術 第35期

捷運技術半年刊 第 35 期 95 年 8 月 191

The benefits of EasyCard concern the passengers（one card for all, speeding passage,
decreasing usage of coins）as well as the Taipei City Government（transport improvement, operation
integration, credibility for fare and subsidy policy）and the transport operators（management
improvement, operator co-ordination, cost reduction）.

A new step on the move

The second stage of the project is taking place right now: the MRT network is growing from
64 to 104 stations with the extension of existing lines and the construction of new lines. DORTS &
TRTC have decided to move to an all contactless solution, replacing the existing magnetic stripe
cards by contactless smart tokens with the same recycling principle. Therefore, all the gates in the
existing stations will be replaced by new ones. The single journey token system will be in operation
in August 2007.

The token is read at the entry gate and encoded with the
entry station and price paid. At the exit gate, the traveller
inserts his token into a dedicated slot, which only opens when
a token with enough value is detected. No foreign object is
accepted. The token is then electronically cancelled when
falling down to the internal container. To perform these
functions, the card reader located in the gate controls 2
antennas.
Once a day, that container will be removed and carried
safely to be loaded into a Token Vending Machine.

This solution was developed for the Delhi metro, and was also implemented successfully in
Bangkok and Nanjing. Once again, Taipei chose the most cost-effective and suitable solution.
Getting rid of the magnetic technology means savings for the capital cost and for the yearly
maintenance as well, because there is no more moving parts in the equipment.

Trends for the future: new applications, new sale channels

One of TSCC goals is that the EasyCard evolves towards an electronic purse and get into non
transport applications such as retail and recreation business, although its statute mentions that its
assigned field is transport. For such new applications, a banking license is required and TSCC will
have to get one as Octopus Cards Ltd did in Hong Kong.

TSCC is also looking to combine the use of EasyCard with an ID function which would enable
post-billing or a loyalty program. The main targets are universities and schools to integrate a student
identification in the EasyCard.
New technologies now also enable to purchase a value through the internet: a web server to
process the request for a card number and a bank server to pay for it. The card number is
downloaded into all the front end equipment so that when that card number is identified in an action
list, it is automatically loaded with the purchased amount. No need to go through a booth or a TVM.