jeffooi
29-11-2002, 03:27 PM
THE STAR Metro
Friday, November 29, 2002
<font size="+1">Far-reaching tentacles of Octopus Card</font>
By WONG SAI WAN
MANY Hong Kong residents would have been bemused over the fuss kicked up in Malaysia about the decision to impose the Touch ’n Go card as the universal one for all highway toll payments.
While the situation is slightly different in this former British colony, the usage of a “touch and go” electronic payment system has been in existence for more than eight years.
It is almost impossible to find a Hong Kong resident without an Octopus Card. But the smartcard is more than just a pre-paid transport payment system.
The Octopus can be used in over 160 different outlets, including for public transport, parking, fast food outlets, super- markets, convenience stores, vending machines, access control systems and leisure facilities.
Students in some schools even pay for their meals and drinks at their canteens using the Octopus.
<img src="http://metro.thestar.com.my/news/2002/11/p55octopus.JPG" align="left"><--- The Octopus Card is used for travelling to eating at MacDonald's in Hong Kong.
The territory’s population make nearly seven million Octopus transactions each day, worth about HK$48mil (RM23.6mil).
But still, 90% of the transactions are for using the city’ public transportation network.
How does this card work? Like the Malaysian Touch ‘n Go, each Octopus card has a built-in microchip that contains an electronic purse and other applications. But unlike its Malaysian counterpart it is a “non-contact” smartcard.
Users simply place their cards close to a reader/writer machine that would automatically deduct the correct amount from the card.
The operating range is between 30mm and 100mm depending on the type of model being used.
What more, the user need not remove the card from his or her wallet or bag when using it. Simply touch the reader with bag/wallet and the machine would still be able to do its work.
The Octopus smartcard, manufactured by Sony, has a built-in IC chip and communicates with different fare processors through the use of a Sony card reader/writer.
The reader/writer is a device comprising of a controller board and an antenna.
It uses inductive Radio Frequency coupling to transmit power and data signals to the processors inside the smartcard.
Many Malaysian tourists are usually taken aback at the ease and varied usage of the Octopus.
“We use these cards for just about every form of transportation, except taxis and mini-buses, and don’t have to worry about having the correct change for the various fares.
“Each time we swipe the card, the fare is deducted from the card. The readouts warn us when our cards are near empty and when necessary, we add value to our cards at the Add Value machines located in the train stations,” said James Kong who spent three weeks in Hong Kong recently.
He said his wife found it “very funny” the first time she saw women placing their handbags strategically over the reader before exiting the Mass Transport Railway gates.
Sometimes, the card is displaced in the huge handbags and it is quite amusing to see these women twisting and turning their bags to find the correct angle to activate the reader/writer machine.
Kong, a businessman said his son even bought a burger from MacDonald’s using the card.
Users can store monetary value of between HK$50 (RM24.60) and HK$1,000 (RM492) on the card.
According to the people at Octopus Cards Limited, the next function for Octopus is as a security device.
Already, some 30,000 to 40,000 cards are used as main door access devices for residents of the many high-rise housing estates here.
The smart card was initiated by the MTR Corporation, which in 1993 took the lead in reviewing its fare collection technology and decided on the need for a non-contact technology.
A year later, five major public transport operators namely, the MTR, Kowloon Canton Railway Corporation, Kowloon Motor Bus, Citybus and the Hong Kong and Yaumati Ferry, established a joint venture, Octopus Cards Limited, to oversee the system’s development and implementation.
SOURCE:
http://metro.thestar.com.my/news/2002/11/hkgocto.html
<font size="+1">Related thread in The Web Forum:
<a href="http://www.usj.com.my/bulletin/upload/showthread.php?s=&threadid=2881">Only Touch 'n Go card for all toll payment</a></font>
Friday, November 29, 2002
<font size="+1">Far-reaching tentacles of Octopus Card</font>
By WONG SAI WAN
MANY Hong Kong residents would have been bemused over the fuss kicked up in Malaysia about the decision to impose the Touch ’n Go card as the universal one for all highway toll payments.
While the situation is slightly different in this former British colony, the usage of a “touch and go” electronic payment system has been in existence for more than eight years.
It is almost impossible to find a Hong Kong resident without an Octopus Card. But the smartcard is more than just a pre-paid transport payment system.
The Octopus can be used in over 160 different outlets, including for public transport, parking, fast food outlets, super- markets, convenience stores, vending machines, access control systems and leisure facilities.
Students in some schools even pay for their meals and drinks at their canteens using the Octopus.
<img src="http://metro.thestar.com.my/news/2002/11/p55octopus.JPG" align="left"><--- The Octopus Card is used for travelling to eating at MacDonald's in Hong Kong.
The territory’s population make nearly seven million Octopus transactions each day, worth about HK$48mil (RM23.6mil).
But still, 90% of the transactions are for using the city’ public transportation network.
How does this card work? Like the Malaysian Touch ‘n Go, each Octopus card has a built-in microchip that contains an electronic purse and other applications. But unlike its Malaysian counterpart it is a “non-contact” smartcard.
Users simply place their cards close to a reader/writer machine that would automatically deduct the correct amount from the card.
The operating range is between 30mm and 100mm depending on the type of model being used.
What more, the user need not remove the card from his or her wallet or bag when using it. Simply touch the reader with bag/wallet and the machine would still be able to do its work.
The Octopus smartcard, manufactured by Sony, has a built-in IC chip and communicates with different fare processors through the use of a Sony card reader/writer.
The reader/writer is a device comprising of a controller board and an antenna.
It uses inductive Radio Frequency coupling to transmit power and data signals to the processors inside the smartcard.
Many Malaysian tourists are usually taken aback at the ease and varied usage of the Octopus.
“We use these cards for just about every form of transportation, except taxis and mini-buses, and don’t have to worry about having the correct change for the various fares.
“Each time we swipe the card, the fare is deducted from the card. The readouts warn us when our cards are near empty and when necessary, we add value to our cards at the Add Value machines located in the train stations,” said James Kong who spent three weeks in Hong Kong recently.
He said his wife found it “very funny” the first time she saw women placing their handbags strategically over the reader before exiting the Mass Transport Railway gates.
Sometimes, the card is displaced in the huge handbags and it is quite amusing to see these women twisting and turning their bags to find the correct angle to activate the reader/writer machine.
Kong, a businessman said his son even bought a burger from MacDonald’s using the card.
Users can store monetary value of between HK$50 (RM24.60) and HK$1,000 (RM492) on the card.
According to the people at Octopus Cards Limited, the next function for Octopus is as a security device.
Already, some 30,000 to 40,000 cards are used as main door access devices for residents of the many high-rise housing estates here.
The smart card was initiated by the MTR Corporation, which in 1993 took the lead in reviewing its fare collection technology and decided on the need for a non-contact technology.
A year later, five major public transport operators namely, the MTR, Kowloon Canton Railway Corporation, Kowloon Motor Bus, Citybus and the Hong Kong and Yaumati Ferry, established a joint venture, Octopus Cards Limited, to oversee the system’s development and implementation.
SOURCE:
http://metro.thestar.com.my/news/2002/11/hkgocto.html
<font size="+1">Related thread in The Web Forum:
<a href="http://www.usj.com.my/bulletin/upload/showthread.php?s=&threadid=2881">Only Touch 'n Go card for all toll payment</a></font>