Introduction of Tagless Payment System in Seoul Subway

Seoul Metro Corporation Promotes Introduction of Tagless Payment System

Pilot installation of tagless payment system at 10 gates in 4 stations within 2023... Technical verification for employees

Bidding announcement for pilot project from July 7 to August 17... Bid opening and external expert evaluation on August 22

Estimating passengers' actual transfer routes using telecom base stations... Resolving revenue settlement issues

· Pilot installation and verification of 4 stations and 10 passageways
· Verification of near-field wireless communication technology
- Boarding and alighting recognition speed
- Integration with gate ticketing entry doors
- Data consistency, etc.

A new era will open where subway riders no longer need to tag their cards for automatic payment.

Seoul Metro Corporation, which plays a central role in metropolitan public transportation, is preparing for a change with a tagless payment system based on Near Field Communication technology (Bluetooth Low Energy 5.0 or higher).

The tagless system is a new payment method that allows convenient boarding and alighting without tagging a transportation card by using mobile devices at turnstiles.

The RF (Radio Frequency) transportation card system, introduced in 1997 and still in use, requires passengers to physically tap their card or mobile device on the terminal to pay fares, which causes long queues at turnstiles during peak hours.

Seoul Metro, which has been steadily preparing for a tagless-based system, plans to first verify the technology with employees through a pilot installation utilizing precise location information technology.

Currently, a public announcement is posted on the national procurement system from July 7 to August 17 to select companies participating in the pilot project. After the announcement closes, on August 22, bid opening and evaluation by external experts will select a preferred negotiator who meets the technical and price conditions required by the corporation. After six months of technical verification including valid boarding and alighting recognition, processing speed within one second, and accuracy of fare and transaction data, the system will be expanded to all stations through technological advancement.

The corporation will pilot the tagless system at 10 turnstiles across 4 stations: Yongdap Station on Line 2, Oksu Station on Line 3, and Dongjak and Sadang Stations on Line 4. The goal is to verify the system with a location recognition rate of over 95% within the year.

·Establishment of a platform to estimate the actual travel routes used by passengers
·Provision of a convenient and accurate fare payment system suitable for the digital transformation era

After verification, Seoul Metro plans to advance the technology by linking it with telecom base stations installed inside stations (an average of 5 per station per telecom company, approximately 1,300 across Lines 1 to 8) within 2024. The core of this technological advancement is estimating passengers' routes (boarding, mid-route changes, transfers, alighting, and other movements) using telecom base stations inside stations.

This technology, applied for the first time in the world, will greatly assist in revenue settlement among urban railway operators.

Although there are various selectable routes such as minimum transfers and shortest time from the subway departure station to the final alighting station, currently settlements are made uniformly. By applying the telecom base station linkage technology developed by the corporation in the future, it will be possible to identify the actual routes used by passengers and perform transparent integrated settlements with related transportation operators.

Baek Ho, President of Seoul Metro Corporation, stated, “The subway will evolve beyond the level of traditional industries to become a corporation where advanced technologies such as near-field communication are widely applied. We will proactively introduce excellent technologies like tagless payment to provide a convenient subway environment for users in preparation for the future.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.