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Unread 26-07-2016, 13:50   #52
markpb
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Join Date: Dec 2005
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Quote:
Originally Posted by James Howard View Post
The problem is that Leap wasn't cheap. It ended up costing tens of millions of euro. As an engineer, I'd suggest the fundamental issue with Leap is that the underlying requirements are too complex. ... I'm guessing that because our ticketing is so complex, that pretty much everything about Leap was developed from scratch rather than bought in as a solution so to change anything costs an absolute fortune.
Bingo. The group running the Leapcard project had the authority to implement Leapcard but couldn't enforce any changes on the operators. I've never understood why this wasn't seen as a prerequisite. Trying to mould a smartcard around the ticketing crud that had built up over the decades was an impossible job.

Quote:
Given that it is possible to top up your Leap card with an Android phone, surely making you android phone be your leap card or Intercity ticket isn't outside the laws of physics.
Topping up a leapcard using NFC is relatively simple. Putting a leapcard onto a phone and exposing it using NFC is completely different. At a minimum, it would require a secure element on the phone (which Android doesn't have and Apple won't let you use) or an active internet connection. Relying on an internet connection to validate a ticket when boarding a bus would be a really poor customer experience.

Last edited by markpb : 26-07-2016 at 13:52.
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