Contactless payment among measures to boost urban mobility

SINGAPORE — Fumbling for that fare card when boarding a bus or taking the train might soon be a thing of the past, if a trial for contactless payment methods — using devices such as wristbands and mobile phones — by the Land Transport Authority (LTA) proves successful.

The trial — which will start later this year — was one of several measures announced by Permanent Secretary for Transport Pang Kin Keong today (July 8), at the opening of the first CREATE Symposium held at the National University of Singapore (NUS).

At the same time, the LTA, along with the Ministry of Transport, will also be working towards an account-based payment system, similar to the way post-paid mobile phone subscribers pay for their plans.

Mr Pang said the “ultimate vision” for fare payment systems is the Be-In-Be-Out (BIBO) system.

“The technology will be able to detect and automatically register commuters in a bus or train so long as the commuter has the fare card somewhere on his person. Such BIBO systems do not require any user action and are therefore ‘hands-free’,” said Mr Pang, adding that there are challenges, such as how the system can detect if the commuter has the fare card.

Nonetheless, he said, the LTA will be studying the system’s feasibility, and how it can be applied to local transport systems.

Separately, the LTA will be making use of data analytics to better understand commuters’ mobility patterns.

Mr Pang said the authority is working with local telcos to make use of mobile phone data to track mobility patterns of the wider public, including those who do not take public transport but walk or cycle to their destinations.

With the data it has amassed from existing travel patterns, “the LTA is (also) looking to develop systems to simulate and predict commuter crowding, behaviour and movements across the ... public transport system”, he added.

The CREATE Symposium is jointly organised by three research programmes funded by the National Research Foundation Singapore — Singapore-ETH Centre, Singapore-MIT Alliance for Research and Technology Future Urban Mobility (SMART FM), and TUM CREATE. Researchers from local and international universities will be discussing issues relating to urban mobility and transportation solutions during the two-day event.

Another technology that has great potential for Singapore’s transport system, Mr Pang noted, is the use of autonomous vehicles.

Trials on these vehicles, which was carried out last year by SMART-NUS at the Chinese and Japanese Gardens, had garnered positive response from the public, noted Professor Emilio Frazzoli of SMART FM. Many of those who tried the vehicles wanted them to “be a permanent feature in the parks”.

Mr Pang added that these vehicles will soon be featured at popular tourist attractions such as Sentosa and Gardens by the Bay.

In the freight industry, the LTA is interested in testing truck platooning, which comprises a lead truck steered by a driver, and a convoy of up to four driverless trucks. Mr Pang noted that this will reduce manpower reliance, and increase productivity.

“The technology will benefit Singapore’s logistics sector, which has been facing a shortage of drivers. We are working to test this technology for the port sector for movement of containers between the different port terminals,” he said.