MRT Musings - “Cellphone mo, MRT card na!”

I've been using the MRT since it opened in '99. Linalangaw pa siya nun dahil mahal pa ang bayad at di pa nadidiskobre ng karamihan ang kagandahan ng pag-sakay ng MRT.

This week, I share a few stories about the MRT. On Wed, June 15, You'll read about my alternative mode of transport when emergencies call. On Friday, June 17, I'll give you another Edong's Dream, a sequel to my first Edong's Dream written back in September 2004.

Well well well, what do we have here?

I noticed these silver devices attached to the MRT gates a few weeks ago.

To get into the MRT paid area, you will need to go through two obstacles.

First, you’ll need to play “Patintero” and “Sawsaw suka” and “Frisk me kunwari” with the security guards.

Second you need to get through the metal gates using a plastic magnetic card – the MRT card – that is inserted in the gate’s card slot.

But what if you don’t need that magnetic card?
What if your cellphone will be your ticket to go through the MRT gate?

This seems to be the idea behind the silver device attached to the MRT gates. The device has a data belt connecting it to the inside of the gate.

Prototype silver device connected to the MRT gate	It has a cellphone icon on it

The device has two pilot lamps, one red one green. It also has what appears to be a speaker – probably for a beeping sound. Or maybe a recorded message saying something like

“Guard! Hwag niyong papasukin ito! Snatcher ito ng cellphone!”

What’s interesting is the icon – a diagram of a hand holding a cellphone. This is the only clue that this device is meant for using the cellphone to get inside the MRT paid area.

So, what is it? How will it work? It couldn’t be like the “octopus” passes in HK where the ticket value is deducted magnetically without any contact.

Is it SMS-enabled? Is it bluetooth? Is it pasaload triggered? Will it work? I wonder …

I had a few ideas written a couple of months ago about using cellphones for entering the MRT (That article is the first of my Edong's Dreams). How similar or different will the actual MRT device be from the ideas I wrote in the past?

From the appearance of the device, it looks like a prototype. When will they use it for real? Will it work well? I wonder …

Ka Edong

Read: Edong's Dreams