Asian cities aim for smart card link-up
Sunday, 30 September 2007
Jonathan Soble and Mariko Sanchanta from Tokyo and Robin Kwong from Hong Kong
TRAVELLING between cities in Asia could become slightly easier in the near future, under a Japanese plan to integrate payment systems for railways and other domestic transport in Japan, China, South Korea and elsewhere using electronic "smart cards".
Smart - or integrated chip technology - cards are already in use on underground and commuter railways, buses and toll highways in Hong Kong, Tokyo, Shanghai, Seoul, Singapore, Bangkok and Kuala Lumpur. In Japan alone, more than 25m have been sold since 2001. They have led to the growth of secondary businesses such as shopping malls within stations.
A single unified system within Asia would reduce the need for cash foreign exchange and relieve travellers of the burden of calculating fares and buying tickets in unfamiliar cities.
Japan's transport ministry on Thursday established a study group - comprising Japanese corporate heavyweights such as Sony, Toshiba and Hitachi - to examine ways to integrate differing Asian card standards. The aim is to introduce a regional system by 2011.
South-east Asian countries have already agreed with China, Japan and South Korea to study such a system under the "Asean+3" regional framework, the ministry said. Japan is expected to be the first to develop specific proposals.
Although the government was reluctant to say which country's technology would be used, Japan clearly has an advantage. Sony-made cards are currently used in Hong Kong, Singapore, New Delhi, Bangkok and the Chinese city of Shenzen. Sony said integration would be a matter of unifying underlying data systems, since they all used Sony technology.
A spokesman for Octopus Cards, which operates Hong Kong's smart card system, said the company was open to the idea of Asia-wide regional integration. The similarity of "contactless" systems in Japan and Hong Kong meant the physical process could be integrated easily. The Octopus card was originally designed for the city's transport system but is now used for everything from retail payments to office building security systems.
Commuters in both Japan and Hong Kong can already use one card to pay fares for all transport links.
Commuters in Tokyo now need just one card to ride the city's municipal underground; East Japan Railway, the local spin-off of the former national rail operator; private commuter railways; and buses.
In Tokyo, operators hope to recoup the Y140bn ($1.2bn, E874m, £599m) invested in integrating their payment systems through increased ridership and fees paid by shops that accept the electronic cash. East Japan Railway, which operates commuter lines in Tokyo, says annual revenues have increased by Y40bn since it introduced what was initially a stand-alone smart card system in 2001.
Japan's transport ministry hopes private operators will bear most of the development costs.
That could be a tall order for those in poorer countries or whose cards are not used as revenue-generating electronic cash. Other hurdles include the potential need for card-readers to handle multiple currencies at constantly changing exchange rates.
Under syndication arrangement with FE
TRAVELLING between cities in Asia could become slightly easier in the near future, under a Japanese plan to integrate payment systems for railways and other domestic transport in Japan, China, South Korea and elsewhere using electronic "smart cards".
Smart - or integrated chip technology - cards are already in use on underground and commuter railways, buses and toll highways in Hong Kong, Tokyo, Shanghai, Seoul, Singapore, Bangkok and Kuala Lumpur. In Japan alone, more than 25m have been sold since 2001. They have led to the growth of secondary businesses such as shopping malls within stations.
A single unified system within Asia would reduce the need for cash foreign exchange and relieve travellers of the burden of calculating fares and buying tickets in unfamiliar cities.
Japan's transport ministry on Thursday established a study group - comprising Japanese corporate heavyweights such as Sony, Toshiba and Hitachi - to examine ways to integrate differing Asian card standards. The aim is to introduce a regional system by 2011.
South-east Asian countries have already agreed with China, Japan and South Korea to study such a system under the "Asean+3" regional framework, the ministry said. Japan is expected to be the first to develop specific proposals.
Although the government was reluctant to say which country's technology would be used, Japan clearly has an advantage. Sony-made cards are currently used in Hong Kong, Singapore, New Delhi, Bangkok and the Chinese city of Shenzen. Sony said integration would be a matter of unifying underlying data systems, since they all used Sony technology.
A spokesman for Octopus Cards, which operates Hong Kong's smart card system, said the company was open to the idea of Asia-wide regional integration. The similarity of "contactless" systems in Japan and Hong Kong meant the physical process could be integrated easily. The Octopus card was originally designed for the city's transport system but is now used for everything from retail payments to office building security systems.
Commuters in both Japan and Hong Kong can already use one card to pay fares for all transport links.
Commuters in Tokyo now need just one card to ride the city's municipal underground; East Japan Railway, the local spin-off of the former national rail operator; private commuter railways; and buses.
In Tokyo, operators hope to recoup the Y140bn ($1.2bn, E874m, £599m) invested in integrating their payment systems through increased ridership and fees paid by shops that accept the electronic cash. East Japan Railway, which operates commuter lines in Tokyo, says annual revenues have increased by Y40bn since it introduced what was initially a stand-alone smart card system in 2001.
Japan's transport ministry hopes private operators will bear most of the development costs.
That could be a tall order for those in poorer countries or whose cards are not used as revenue-generating electronic cash. Other hurdles include the potential need for card-readers to handle multiple currencies at constantly changing exchange rates.
Under syndication arrangement with FE