EZ-link card

This night, I chanced to ride the same jeepney that I rode
to work this morning.

I was reminded that this morning, one of the passengers
argued with the driver because he told them that they paid 2.50 pesos
short of the fare. The passenger told him that their destination is
only a kilometer away and 7.50 each is too much. She even pointed to
the notice inside the jeepney. But the notice stated that the minimum
fare in Manila is 7.50 pesos. She either didn't understand English or
pretended not to in order to wriggle out of paying the right fare.
The driver told her (passenger) not to bother as he didn't want to
argue.

My EZ-Link card and that of my mother were short of the
proper value when we rode a bus from Clifford Pier to Harbourfront in
Singapore. The display showed "pay cash to the driver". The norm is
to pay the exact change to the driver. Unfortunately, my lowest
denomination was a SGD 50 bill. We just tapped our cards again when
we alighted. At the Harbourfront MRT, I "topped up" both cards. The
lowest top up value is SGD 10. Both our EZ-cards value showed 9.92
instead of 10. The difference between the stored value and our fare
to Harbourfront was automatically deducted from the new value of the
card. Actually, each of our EZ-link card's value was 12.92. SGD 3 is
not displayed because it is a deposit for the card and refundable when
returned to Transitlink.

I like this cashless system because it lessens arguments and
cheating.

If this could only be implemented here, perhaps, there would
also be lesser "tong" and corruption in the streets.

sayong
08-30-06 11pm