RFID has been spawning a lot of innovation. One of the newest is Jewel, a tiny chip which has been designed for disposable radio frequency-enabled tickets. While I personally don't like the idea of unnecessary waste - an issue that other RFID projects have tried to resolve - this chip has been approved by ITSO (Integrated Transport Smartcard Organisation). IER, who make contactless labels and devices for transit and other companies will be licensing the chip from Innovsion Research to use in their applications, particularly for mass transit. [additional sources: Contactless News]
However, given that there seem to be so many vendors offering transit solutions, and many contactless-payment projects for transit all over the world, it makes me wonder what citizens of neighboring countries will do. Tourism might actually suffer if cities don't consider a failsafe method of fare payment for short-term visitors. Which is why I still maintain that cash will be useful for a long-time yet.
--
Did you enjoy this post?
« Wal-Mart Doubling RFID-Enabled Stores | Main | Brisk Sales of RFID Livestock Tags »