QR tickets and MaaS cases are increasing If this were a transportation IC, there would be the option of using a physical IC card as well as “mobile XX” using a smartphone. However, the situation is different when using QR codes. We have previously introduced JR East’s “Ekinet Q-Tike” and JR Shikoku’s “Shikoku Smart Ekichan” (Suma Eki) ticket application. These are services built and operated by the JR passenger companies themselves. There are also “Slutto QRtto” and “KANSAI MaaS” that are the result of a collection of multiple railroad operators. Apart from those, there are also examples of outside companies selling digital tickets. One example is “my route,” which sells “GO QUEST West Kyushu Free Ticket” for JR Kyushu’s West Kyushu area. This is a service provided by Toyota Motor Corporation. QR tickets and digital tickets are often designed for use with smartphones. Smartphones are widely used as a means of information gathering and communication, but they have also become indispensable as a means of using transportation. In the case of the author, smartphones are used more than in Japan and abroad when using public transportation. If, as is the case in Sweden, “cash is not accepted on board buses,” one must install a smartphone application provided by each operator and register a credit card in order to get around. Probably in the future, as the ticketless system progresses, the use of smartphones will increase even more; when I visited Sweden two years ago in 2023, I was told at the Strögnäs station, “This ticket vending machine will be removed soon. I was astonished to see a notice at a train station in Strengnäs saying, “This ticket machine will be removed soon, so please purchase your tickets with the SJ app. Tomorrow is my day.
Smartphones are becoming a lifeline for train travel. As “train travel relying on smartphones” becomes more common, there may be situations in which smartphones may not function properly. Apart from physical damage or malfunction, the first issues that come to mind are “power supply” and “out of range. It is not difficult to talk about tickets sold online if QR codes and other such codes can be read in a static state, or if they can be printed on paper. Just in case, you can carry the paper printout with you or duplicate the PDF file on your laptop storage. I did this once when I visited Sweden. You could also prepare a spare smartphone and copy the files to it as well. However, it is a different story when you have to present a screen with the application running, as in the case of “Sumaeki” and “Ekinet Q-ticket”. If the smartphone does not function, entry and exit are not possible. Then, running out of battery or being out of range becomes a big problem. Running out of battery power can be easily avoided by carrying a mobile battery, and an increasing number of limited express trains are equipped with power outlets. It is reasonable to think that we should be prepared for any emergency by recharging our batteries whenever possible. USB ports for recharging are increasingly being installed in cars, on planes, and in airport lounges. However, it has been pointed out that there is a possibility of some kind of cyber-attack through USB connections. It is a good idea to prepare a USB cable that does not support data communication (for charging only) in case you need to charge at a USB port installed in a public place. What about out-of-area situations? In fact, there are many situations in which you will be out of range when traveling through tunnels on a train. All Shinkansen tunnels have good communication, and most subways are now accessible as well. However, conventional railways are a different story. In fact, many times when riding on a conventional train, I have experienced that after the train enters a tunnel for a while, I am out of range. Even so, there is still room for users to take action, such as securing a power source when the battery runs out, or changing locations when out of range. However, if a communication failure occurs on the carrier side, there is nothing the user can do. All they can do is wait for the system to be restored. This is what makes digital tickets “a little bit scary.
© Source travel watch
Auto Amazon Links: No products found.
Auto Amazon Links: No products found.