By George G. Wynne
APTA Consultant for International Affairs
The world's most extensive application of contactless fare technology is in progress in
Hong Kong, under the flag of the People's Republic of China.
The "octopus"--a contactless chip card under development since the early
1990s by "Creative Star," a joint venture company created by Hong Kong's six
major privately operated transit companies--is being used each work day by an estimated
2.5 million riders. Company officials expect the network will include four million
farecards by the end of next year, when all forms of public transit in Hong Kong have
bought into the system.
The farecard has been dubbed the "octopus" because of its multi-modal
applications, including urban and interurban heavy and light rail lines, buses, and
ferries.
Several hundred "add-value" machines have already been phased into service
since the new fare collection system replaced the magnetic stripe card last fall. Hundreds
more will be installed at stations and terminals in the coming months.
A spokesman for Creative Star said that, by the end of last November, two-and-one-half
million of the three-and-one-half million cards ordered already had been sold. Sales are
steadily expanding, as plans are to further extend the multimodal system to other forms of
transport as well as phone and parking use. At present, the stored value card can be used
on the subway (MTR); the commuter interurban KCR light rail line; KCR East Rail; KCR
feeder buses; the KMB and Citybus cross-harbor routes; and the Hong Kong and Yamauti ferry
service.
Despite the sophisticated, high-tech character of the system, very few failures have
been reported. During the first month of operations, problems requiring station personnel
assistance occurred, on average, in one out of 11,000 journeys.
The traveling public is also getting used to the "octopus" and its
"add-value" features. More than 200 system "ambassadors" are currently
on duty at stations and terminals to assist passengers in using the shiny new machines to
"reload" their cards using cash or bank cards.
A regular card sells for HK $150 (approximately U.S. $20), and additional value can be
added in increments of HK $100. Discounted cards are available for students and seniors.
A customer-friendly wrinkle in the system is that each card has been programmed to
allow a "negative value" of up to HK $35, which means customers can complete
their journeys even if the card's value has declined to zero or below. Fares deducted from
the negative value are recovered automatically the next time value is added to the card.
Octopus is contactless and will work with an accuracy of more than 99 percent within an
operating distance of less than 100 millimeters (3.94 inches) between the card and the
reader. However, to minimize malfunctions even further, passengers are advised to touch
their card to the processors mounted atop the turnstiles.
The first time an octopus card is purchased, a refundable deposit of HK $50--which
covers the HK $30 cost of the card and a portion of the negative value--is included in the
purchase price of HK $150. The remaining value in the card can be checked as frequently as
desired by looking at the digital display window in each fare processor atop the turnstile
gates. The "add-value" machines also display the amount remaining in the card
before and after "reloading."
The cards are guaranteed for 100,000 transactions and a life cycle of up to 10 years in
normal use.
To the best of our knowledge, the Creative Star "octopus" system represents
the most extensive use of transit chip cards in revenue service at a single venue anywhere
in the world.
Leading edge innovation in fare collection technology is not the only hallmark of the
Hong Kong system. The MTR, which operates a three-line metrorail system comprising 38
stations, is one of a very few subways in the world that has consistently shown an
operating profit, and it is also one of the most heavily used. Its 2.3 million workday
passengers produce an operating profit in the range of HK $3 billion (U.S. $39 million) a
year before depreciation and debt service. The system is still in the black to the tune of
more than HK $1 billion (U.S. $13 million) in an average year with no public subsidies,
and plans to retire all its outstanding debts from government loans and world capital
markets by 2001.
Profits from real estate operations are another feature of the system, which owns and
maintains nearly 30,000 apartments as well as office buildings and retail outlets in
stations.
Hong Kong is currently building a 21-mile express line to the new Chep Lap Kok
International Airport, part of the U.S. $23 billion airport core program that ranks with
the rebuilding of Berlins city center as one of the biggest infrastructure building
programs now underway anywhere in the world.
Hong Kong's impressive public transport systems also include one of the world's largest
fleets of double-decker buses, the world's largest airport and related infrastructure
engineering projects, the world's largest fleet of jetfoils, and the highest-density mixed
passenger and freight railways.
The Hong Kong system is hosting a three-day international conference and exhibition
organized by the International Union of Public Transport, Oct. 21 to 23. APTA members are
sure to be among the international transit study team that will be selected to take part
in the conference under the TCRP program, and to look at joint development projects along
with high-tech solutions in Hong Kong and Japan.
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