py_megapixel
Established Member
It seems that the government wishes to replace the credit-card sized ticket stock which has been in use on the railways for some time. I still don't really understand what's wrong with this ticket stock, but whatever...
However, what they are really pushing is not a different type of paper ticket stock (such as the roll-printed stock as used by many onboard ticketing systems nowadays) but mobile ticketing. But are the mobile-ticketing solutions in use today mature enough to replace paper ticketing? I can see a few major disadvantages:
So why are they pushing for this, what's the point, and is the technology advanced enough yet?
EDIT - it has come to my attention that several of the flaws above are with M-tickets, which are supposed to be phased out in favour of E-tickets which are far more flexible.
However, what they are really pushing is not a different type of paper ticket stock (such as the roll-printed stock as used by many onboard ticketing systems nowadays) but mobile ticketing. But are the mobile-ticketing solutions in use today mature enough to replace paper ticketing? I can see a few major disadvantages:
- It's impossible to buy a ticket without being 100% sure that the person buying the ticket will be the one using it. For example if one person from a family needs to make a journey (for example to collect an item) then it's required that they decide who will be travelling before buying a ticket, whereas under the paper ticketing system they could just buy one ticket and give it to whoever was travelling.
- Similarly, parents cannot buy tickets for their children as far as I'm aware. They both would need their own smartphone, online account with whichever TOC they are buying the tickets from, and credit/debit card. Some apps may permit purchasing an adult and child ticket at the same time, but this is not a suitable solution if the child will be travelling alone for any portion of the journey. In short, it is a severe flexibility limit for families with children, particularly older ones who are capable of travelling alone.
- Not everyone is comfortable using the technology required. Some of my older relatives are not comfortable using a smartphone or even purchasing items with a debit card online, so it will be very difficult to persuade them to make the switch over to mobile ticketing. It's also worth noting that not everyone can afford to purchase a smartphone, and those who can may not want to carry it with them all the time.
- Short of physically damaging the ticket (tearing it, spilling water on it or whatever else) there is little that can be done to make current ticket stock illegible. Basically if you tuck it away somewhere sensible then it will still be there when you come to the end of your journey. But phones can crash, decide to update themselves randomly, have their batteries run out, and a number of other things outside the user's control that could prevent them from showing their ticket to the conductor or barrier staff when needed.
- At busy times, commuters like to use their mobile device while waiting in queues to exit the station. This leads to them not having their ticket properly ready for the barrier which makes every station exit take longer by a few seconds - possibly more than this if the barcode readers on the gates are playing up.
So why are they pushing for this, what's the point, and is the technology advanced enough yet?
EDIT - it has come to my attention that several of the flaws above are with M-tickets, which are supposed to be phased out in favour of E-tickets which are far more flexible.
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