Taking transit ticketing technology one step further, South Korea’s Seoul subway system is introducing the world’s first RFID based program for single journey reusable ticketing. The new smart card system will serve a city of over 10 million people and replace paper tickets for passengers that were previously paying with cash.

In July 2004 the subway system became a part of the Seoul Metropolitan Government’s New Transportation System, which combined the subway and bus networks. When that system was implemented a refillable traffic card program was introduced called T-Money in addition to paper tickets for passengers paying with cash. Transit authorities were printing over 450 million paper tickets per year.
Transit authorities decided to rethink their paper ticketing system in an effort to reduce the impact on the environment and come up with a more durable and long-term system for single journey tickets. The new RFID smart cards are available from automated vending machines. Each card is equipped with a contactless memory chip that allows the cards to be returned and reissued to new passengers. The cards have a built in anti-collision mechanism that prevents potential bad reactions to other cards that are nearby. Dual counters and anti-tear properties ensure that the new smart cards meet the needs of the robust transit application.