The Taipei MRT is to begin accepting mobile payment services in the fall, Taipei Rapid Transit Corp said on Saturday.
When the company finishes the installation of new payment units at ticketing gates in October, MRT passengers can use credit cards, Apple Pay, Google Pay and Samsung Pay, the operator said.
In addition, the MRT would also provide QR payment codes — which would be compatible with Line Pay, Jkopay, iPass Money, PXPay Plus, EasyWallet, iCash Pay, Taiwan Pay and Taishin Pay — to access the railway system.
Photo: Lin Cheng-hung, Taipei Times
Currently, passengers can access the Taipei MRT by buying a single-journey token or using EasyCard, iPass or iCash cards.
Eventually, iPhone users would be able to use Apple Pay’s Express Mode function, which uses the device’s enhanced contactless polling feature, to pass through ticketing gates without unlocking their device, the company said, adding that the function is not available on mobile phones using the Android operating system.
Android phone users can use the “Tap to Ride” feature in EasyCard’s EasyWallet app, the company said.
Apple Inc last month said that it would launch a new near-field communication function in Taiwan.
EasyCard Corp said that it is evaluating the feasibility of working with Apple to provide the EasyWallet app on the Apple App Store.
As the credit tap area and QR code scan area are at waist level, passengers would need to bend down to tap their credit cards or access QR codes when passing through ticketing gates, Taipei City Councilor Ho Meng-hua (何孟樺) said.
In addition to upgrading the card-reading system, the MRT operator should conduct stress tests on multiple payment systems to accurately gauge the average time needed to pass through ticketing gates, Ho said.
“I would suggest the company change the location of the credit card tap and code scan areas. Otherwise, the company’s intention of allowing people to pay MRT fare with more methods would become a nightmare,” she said.
The Taipei Rapid Transit said that the new ticketing gates are designed to avoid interference from different payment systems.
It originally planned to complete the installation of 2,361 multi-payment units on 1,396 gates in all 117 Taipei MRT stations by March, but only 1,500 units have been installed so far, the company said.
The contractor has proposed plans to speed up the installation, which should be finished in October, it said.
ECHOVIRUS 11: The rate of enterovirus infections in northern Taiwan increased last week, with a four-year-old girl developing acute flaccid paralysis, the CDC said Two imported cases of chikungunya fever were reported last week, raising the total this year to 13 cases — the most for the same period in 18 years, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said yesterday. The two cases were a Taiwanese and a foreign national who both arrived from Indonesia, CDC Epidemic Intelligence Center Deputy Director Lee Chia-lin (李佳琳) said. The 13 cases reported this year are the most for the same period since chikungunya was added to the list of notifiable communicable diseases in October 2007, she said, adding that all the cases this year were imported, including 11 from
Prosecutors in New Taipei City yesterday indicted 31 individuals affiliated with the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) for allegedly forging thousands of signatures in recall campaigns targeting three Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) lawmakers. The indictments stem from investigations launched earlier this year after DPP lawmakers Su Chiao-hui (蘇巧慧) and Lee Kuen-cheng (李坤城) filed criminal complaints accusing campaign organizers of submitting false signatures in recall petitions against them. According to the New Taipei District Prosecutors Office, a total of 2,566 forged recall proposal forms in the initial proposer petition were found during the probe. Among those
The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) today condemned the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) after the Czech officials confirmed that Chinese agents had surveilled Vice President Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) during her visit to Prague in March last year. Czech Military Intelligence director Petr Bartovsky yesterday said that Chinese operatives had attempted to create the conditions to carry out a demonstrative incident involving Hsiao, going as far as to plan a collision with her car. Hsiao was vice president-elect at the time. The MAC said that it has requested an explanation and demanded a public apology from Beijing. The CCP has repeatedly ignored the desires
The Ma-anshan Nuclear Power Plant’s license has expired and it cannot simply be restarted, the Executive Yuan said today, ahead of national debates on the nuclear power referendum. The No. 2 reactor at the Ma-anshan Nuclear Power Plant in Pingtung County was disconnected from the nation’s power grid and completely shut down on May 17, the day its license expired. The government would prioritize people’s safety and conduct necessary evaluations and checks if there is a need to extend the service life of the reactor, Executive Yuan spokeswoman Michelle Lee (李慧芝) told a news conference. Lee said that the referendum would read: “Do