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The Swiss public transport ticketing system. Their app uses location services to automatically determine your fare, so you don’t need to buy tickets in advance:

The Swiss public transport ticketing system. Their app uses location services to automatically determine your fare, so you don’t need to buy tickets in advance: https://www.sbb.ch/en/travel-information/apps/sbb-mobile/easyride.html https://www.sbb.ch/en/travel-information/apps/sbb-mobile/eas.... As a bonus there are no ticket barriers so no queues and no overheads of maintaining those machines.

leandot 1y ago
This. It also caps your fares in a day to the cost of a daily ticket, so you don't get overcharged.
marcyb5st 1y ago
More than that (which is an amazing feature, don't get me wrong) is the fact that there is a single app for every public transportation system in the country. Compare that to Italy/France/Spain (those that I know) where, depending where you are traveling to, you have to download, sign in, and give your credit card details to N different apps in different states of disrepair/being barely maintained. Virtual credit cards (I use Revolut) that I then delete mitigate that, but still, what a mess.
- interactivecode 1y ago
  In The Netherlands you just tap your card when you get in and when you get out. the fare is computed based on how many stops you went. No app needed. Supports all the virtual cards too like apple pay etc...
  - gogusrl 1y ago
    dumb question but what happens if you forget to tap out ?
    - dotcoma 1y ago
      You likely get charged from where you got on to the end of the route.
      - ipaddr 1y ago
        Couldn't you leave with a friend have your friend get off at the next stop they scan both cards while you travel the entire route?
        petralithic 1y ago
        Sure but scenarios like those are a rounding error
  - Gud 1y ago
    Frankly the Swiss system is far superior. The Netherlands has a great train system except for the god damn turnstiles blocking the entrance to the train station. They are not needed. FWIW I live in Switzerland and work a lot in Netherlands.
liamwire 1y ago
Queensland, Australia introduced state-wide $0.50 public transit fares a year ago, and it’s been a raging success. Conveniently, this also eliminates the entire problem class of needing to calculate fares. Mind you, for those unfamiliar, QLD is a state 2.5x larger than Texas, 5x larger than all of Japan, 7x larger than Great Britain, and is bigger than all but 16 countries.
- kingkongjaffa 1y ago
  I guess size is a factor but also population density, does QLD have way less people per sq.m and does that make it easier to implement stuff like this?
  - theothertimcook 1y ago
    QLD population density is something like 2000x lower than that of Tokyo… Our public transport systems are so bad. The Brisbane airport rail connection runs about half as many train services as the Perth airport, which seems about half the amount of travellers each year as Brisbane airport. It’s crazy, double the fare burden, half the patronage, and stuck in a monopoly contract until 2036. Don’t even get me started on the stupid busways, gimped light rails, the new “metro” and the endless amount poured into the motorways that they have been widening one lane at a time for 3 decades…
aosaigh 1y ago
I believe Copenhagen has this too now. I visited in the same week they were launching the system (last year?) and it worked perfectly. All you had to do was press a button on your phone as you enter and leave the station and it automatically calculates what you owe. I loved it. It also worked throughout all of the different train systems.
- p_v_doom 1y ago
  Whenever I use that one I forget to check out then bike half across town several times over and at 3 in the morning I get a huge ticket.
netfortius 1y ago
Certain parts of France and Germany, that I know, use something similar for regional trains and buses: FAIRTIQ
- Gud 1y ago
  It’s the same. FAIRTIQ is a Swiss company
octo888 1y ago
What an Orwellian nightmare. These systems require real-time GPS data. Just as buying a ticket with cash is becoming increasingly hard in parts of Europe, I can see a near future where having a phone sending constant GPS updates becomes a requirement (a requirement in an strict sense, or the sense that the alternative is unreasonably cumbersome or more expensive)
- tpm 1y ago
  Sending GPS updates from the subway?
  - octo888 1y ago
    There are many public transport systems that are not a subway. There are trains and buses that are wholly above ground, for example.
    - tpm 1y ago
      Yes, but underground systems are a substantial part of many mass transit networks, and even for those that aren't underground, GPS connection can't be considered reliable. Anyway if you are scared of Orwellian nightmares you shouldn't use public transport anyway as there are CCTVs everywhere.
  - Nextgrid 1y ago
    At least on iOS, it doesn't access the GPS directly. It asks the OS for updates to the device's location with a certain degree of precision. It's up to the OS to blend various sensor data (GPS, cellular, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth beacons - the latter is used underground to get a good position fix without a line of sight to the sky) and send that to the app. If it was using GPS continuously it would drain your battery very quickly. So if the device can get a good idea of its location via Wi-Fi/Bluetooth, it will not even bother turning on the GPS.
    - seabass-labrax 1y ago
      I see a vulnerability in that - spoofing location data is not hard. I really hope this doesn't lead down the path of transport operators introducing DRM-like rootkits, but unfortunately the concept of relying on data from devices owned by the user is always going to be at odds with preventing dishonest use. I'd much rather use a smartcard which, whilst tamper-proof and not modifiable by me, is separate from my own devices and personal data.
equinox_nl 1y ago
I don't understand how so many tech-minded people on this site completely disregard the value of privacy. How is this a win?
- yen223 1y ago
  My expectation of privacy when in a vehicle with dozens if not hundreds of strangers with cameras is low.
jjice 1y ago
I'm a bit confused - how does this differ from something like The Tube in London where I tap on and tap off and it'll charge me based on the entry and exit points and whatever the appropriate "zone" travel I did was?

leandot 1y ago

This. It also caps your fares in a day to the cost of a daily ticket, so you don't get overcharged.

marcyb5st 1y ago

More than that (which is an amazing feature, don't get me wrong) is the fact that there is a single app for every public transportation system in the country. Compare that to Italy/France/Spain (those that I know) where, depending where you are traveling to, you have to download, sign in, and give your credit card details to N different apps in different states of disrepair/being barely maintained. Virtual credit cards (I use Revolut) that I then delete mitigate that, but still, what a mess.

interactivecode 1y ago
In The Netherlands you just tap your card when you get in and when you get out. the fare is computed based on how many stops you went. No app needed. Supports all the virtual cards too like apple pay etc...
- gogusrl 1y ago
  dumb question but what happens if you forget to tap out ?
  - dotcoma 1y ago
    You likely get charged from where you got on to the end of the route.
    - ipaddr 1y ago
      Couldn't you leave with a friend have your friend get off at the next stop they scan both cards while you travel the entire route?
      - petralithic 1y ago
        Sure but scenarios like those are a rounding error
- Gud 1y ago
  Frankly the Swiss system is far superior. The Netherlands has a great train system except for the god damn turnstiles blocking the entrance to the train station. They are not needed. FWIW I live in Switzerland and work a lot in Netherlands.

liamwire 1y ago

Queensland, Australia introduced state-wide $0.50 public transit fares a year ago, and it’s been a raging success. Conveniently, this also eliminates the entire problem class of needing to calculate fares. Mind you, for those unfamiliar, QLD is a state 2.5x larger than Texas, 5x larger than all of Japan, 7x larger than Great Britain, and is bigger than all but 16 countries.

kingkongjaffa 1y ago
I guess size is a factor but also population density, does QLD have way less people per sq.m and does that make it easier to implement stuff like this?
- theothertimcook 1y ago
  QLD population density is something like 2000x lower than that of Tokyo… Our public transport systems are so bad. The Brisbane airport rail connection runs about half as many train services as the Perth airport, which seems about half the amount of travellers each year as Brisbane airport. It’s crazy, double the fare burden, half the patronage, and stuck in a monopoly contract until 2036. Don’t even get me started on the stupid busways, gimped light rails, the new “metro” and the endless amount poured into the motorways that they have been widening one lane at a time for 3 decades…

aosaigh 1y ago

I believe Copenhagen has this too now. I visited in the same week they were launching the system (last year?) and it worked perfectly. All you had to do was press a button on your phone as you enter and leave the station and it automatically calculates what you owe. I loved it. It also worked throughout all of the different train systems.

p_v_doom 1y ago
Whenever I use that one I forget to check out then bike half across town several times over and at 3 in the morning I get a huge ticket.

netfortius 1y ago

Certain parts of France and Germany, that I know, use something similar for regional trains and buses: FAIRTIQ

Gud 1y ago
It’s the same. FAIRTIQ is a Swiss company

octo888 1y ago

What an Orwellian nightmare. These systems require real-time GPS data. Just as buying a ticket with cash is becoming increasingly hard in parts of Europe, I can see a near future where having a phone sending constant GPS updates becomes a requirement (a requirement in an strict sense, or the sense that the alternative is unreasonably cumbersome or more expensive)

tpm 1y ago
Sending GPS updates from the subway?
- octo888 1y ago
  There are many public transport systems that are not a subway. There are trains and buses that are wholly above ground, for example.
  - tpm 1y ago
    Yes, but underground systems are a substantial part of many mass transit networks, and even for those that aren't underground, GPS connection can't be considered reliable. Anyway if you are scared of Orwellian nightmares you shouldn't use public transport anyway as there are CCTVs everywhere.
- Nextgrid 1y ago
  At least on iOS, it doesn't access the GPS directly. It asks the OS for updates to the device's location with a certain degree of precision. It's up to the OS to blend various sensor data (GPS, cellular, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth beacons - the latter is used underground to get a good position fix without a line of sight to the sky) and send that to the app. If it was using GPS continuously it would drain your battery very quickly. So if the device can get a good idea of its location via Wi-Fi/Bluetooth, it will not even bother turning on the GPS.
  - seabass-labrax 1y ago
    I see a vulnerability in that - spoofing location data is not hard. I really hope this doesn't lead down the path of transport operators introducing DRM-like rootkits, but unfortunately the concept of relying on data from devices owned by the user is always going to be at odds with preventing dishonest use. I'd much rather use a smartcard which, whilst tamper-proof and not modifiable by me, is separate from my own devices and personal data.

equinox_nl 1y ago

I don't understand how so many tech-minded people on this site completely disregard the value of privacy. How is this a win?

yen223 1y ago
My expectation of privacy when in a vehicle with dozens if not hundreds of strangers with cameras is low.

jjice 1y ago

I'm a bit confused - how does this differ from something like The Tube in London where I tap on and tap off and it'll charge me based on the entry and exit points and whatever the appropriate "zone" travel I did was?