Suica – Keeping a Stable Operation and Expanding Services

Copyright 2016 East Japan Railway Company. All rights reserved
Suica
～ Keeping a Stable Operation
and Expanding Services ～
East Japan Railway Company
Hajime Yamada

Outline of JR East
*Numbers are as of FY ended March 31, 2015 $1 =120JPY
Greater
Tokyo Area
Railway Network: 7,457 km
No. of Trains: 13,000 /day
No. of Passengers: 17 million /day
Operating Revenue: $ 23 billion
Net Income: $ 1.5 billion
No. of Employees: 73,329
Suica in circulation:
over 50 million
2

Daily station passengers
0
100,000
200,000
300,000
400,000
500,000
600,000
700,000
800,000
Shinjuku
Ikebukuro
Tokyo
Yokohama
Shibuya
Shinagawa
Shinbashi
Omiya
Akihabara
Kawasaki
Kitasenju
Takadanobaba
Ueno
Yurakucho
Tachikawa
Hamamatsucho
Osaki
Tamachi
Nakano
Kamata
Outline of JR East
3

Outline of JR East
High-Speed Intercity
Metropolitan Regional
4

Use Case of
Suica Card and mobile Suica

Touch and Go !
R/W : Reader/Writer
Just Touch the Suica
gently on the R/W
of the Ticket Gate
Pi !
6

Touch
1. The processing time of fare transaction has to be
within 200ms.
2. The RF communication distance has to be over 85mm.
 Gates are designed to be capable of
60 passengers per a minute.
Suica card 200ms
Our Requirement
8

The Rush Hour Traffic Simulation of
Tamachi Station in Yamanote Line
神田
御徒町
上野
鶯谷
日暮里
田
端
駒
込
巣
鴨
大
塚
池
袋
目
白
高田馬場
新大久保
新宿
有楽町
新橋
浜松町品川大崎五反田
目
黒
渋谷
原宿
代々木
千
駄
ヶ
谷
信
濃
町
四
ツ
谷
市
ヶ
谷
飯
田
橋
水
道
橋
御
茶
ノ
水
西
日
暮
里
恵比寿
秋葉原
田町
東京
Tokyo
Shinjuku
Shibuya
Ueno
Tamachi
Passenger Flow Simulation
9

Smooth flow of Passengers
Disruption of
Passenger flow
47 people/min 32 people/min
If the performance is poor, passengers are piled up
on the platforms. Dangerous!
⇒ High performance is mandatory.
Passenger Flow Simulation
15

Use case of Card
2
3
1
Card Only
Ticket Holder
Wallet
17

Use Case of Card
Passengers don’t want to worry about:
- how to hold card face, up and down
- interference caused by the fingers, coins, notes, other smart cards
Card performance is affected by the following items:
- passenger touches the card surface by hand or finger,
1. Antenna condition is changed by the influence of a dielectric
2. Magnetic field is disturbed by users own hand
- passenger inserts the Card into the wallet or the bag
3. If card is put on many coins, the magnetic field is disturbed
4. If card piles other contactless cards, resonance frequency
move and received power is decreased.
18

Keeping a Stable Operation

Suica System Control Center
On March 1st 2007
Suica System Control Center
was established.
On Dec. 1st, 2006 just 0:00 am in the midnight, more than
1,000 ticket gates went down because of the program bug.
One of the engineer, who happened to work in the office,
got the information and collaborated with other engineers.
They took measures and
recovered the ticket
gates at 4:20 am.
(3,000 people affected)
To Expedite the trouble
shooting
20

2) The Ticket Gate is
automatically checked
every early morning at the
Suica Control Center.
1) The update data is
downloaded to the ticket
gates every night.
Midnight Check for Ticket Gate
21

Suica
Development Strategy

4.
Integration
with
external
networkscompanies
3.
Tie-ups
with
other
companies
Suica Development Strategy
2. Expanding electronic money
IC railway
ticket
1. Expanding Suica holders
Point exchange
program
Auto-top up
Increase Suica
member stores
Suica settlement
through the internet
mobile Suica
Combining
Suica with
credit cards
Mutual use with other
transportation
companies
Ticket reservation and
purchase via mobile phones
life style
services
23

1. Expanding Suica Holders
Mutual Use with other
Transportation Companies
24

IC Card Ticketing Service Spread all over Japan
（Nagoya City
Transportation and
Meitetsu）
（Fukuoka City
Transportation）
（ＪＲ Kyushu）（ＪＲ Hokkaido）（Nishitetsu）
（Private railway in
Kanto）
（ＪＲ Tokai）（Private railway in
Kansai）
（ＪＲ West）（ＪＲ East）
 JR East disclosed the specifications for the IC card
ticketing service to other transportation companies.
 10 transportation IC cards have been born within past
12 years since Suica service started.
25

Mutual Usage of 10 Transportation IC Cards
26

Mutual Use of 10 Transportation IC Cards
Any of these 10 Transportation IC cards…
can be used in transportation such as
railways, subways, buses, taxies and so on.
can be used for purchases of tickets at
ticket vending machines in the stations.
can be used as e-money.
can be topped up in any areas.
can show the usage history on display and
in print.
27

0%
20%
40%
60%
80%
100%2001/10
2002/04
2002/10
2003/04
2003/10
2004/04
2004/10
2005/04
2005/10
2006/04
2006/10
2007/04
2007/10
2008/04
2008/10
2009/04
2009/10
2010/04
2010/10
2011/04
2011/10
2012/04
2012/10
2013/04
2013/10
2014/04
2014/10
2015/04
IC Usage Rate at the Gate
90.1%
July, 2015
28

2. Expanding Electronic Money
Increase Suica Member Stores

Suica e-Money
Kiosk
Convenience Store
Station
Buildings

e-Money Terminals for Various Shops
Drink Vending Machine
（For Suica Use Only)
Parking Fare
Adjuster
Coin Locker
Ticket
Vending
Machine
32

In-town
In-station
Home
Convenience Store Restaurant Super Market
Shopping in-plane Coffee Shop Fast food Drug store
Parking Clothing store
Amusement Bookstore
Vending machine Hotel
School Parking
Hospital
Convenience store Restrant Vending machine
Store in-station Fast food Coin locker
Coffee shop Station building
Shopping in-train
E-money service
started in Mar.‘04
Event Discount store
Taxi
Net Shopping
Game
Suica e-Money
33

In-station In-town
Transaction
(as of Aug.2015)
In-town
67%
In-station
33%
Convenience
Store
64%
Convenience
Store
55%
Vending
machine
23%
Vending
machine
37%
other
13%
other
8%
34
The places where e-Money is used these days
In-town
1. We began to expand e-
Money into “In-station”
first, then into “In-town”.
But “In-town” is twice the
transaction of “In-station”
nowadays.
2. Because of Aug.,
many people
seem to buy
drinks from
vending machines.

0
20
40
60
80
100
120
140
160
180
200
220
240
260
280
300
320
340
360
380
400
420
440
460
480
500
520
540
560
0
20,000
40,000
60,000
80,000
100,000
120,000
140,000
160,000
180,000
200,000
220,000
240,000
260,000
280,000
300,000
320,000
'04/3 9 '05/3 9 '06/3 9 '07/3 9 '08/3 9 '09/3 9 '10/3 9 '11/3 9 '12/3 9 '13/3 9 '14/3 9 '15/3
Suica e-Money Transactions
MAX 5.22 million
transaction / day
(Aug.7, 2015)
Aiming at 8 million
tran./day by 2020
Available at over
330,000 locations
(as of Feb. 2016)
35

“Rich” and “Thin” Client e-money system
Rich
e-Money
Server
e-Money
Server
“Rich” Client(High Cost) “Thin” Client(Low Cost)
Thin
data center
- Application
- Key
Thin Client
Center Server
data center
shop
- Application
- Key
shop
36
via Network

37
2012年1月
2012年4月
2012年7月
2012年10月
2013年1月
2013年4月
2013年7月
2013年10月
2014年1月
2014年4月
2014年7月
2014年10月
2015年1月
2015年4月
2015年7月
2015年10月
TOTAL
Thin Client
Number of Thin Client Terminal
= 20%

3. Tie-ups with other Companies
Combining Suica with
Credit Cards

39
View Suica Card
“Auto top-up” service at the ticket gate
has been started in Oct. 2006.
We have coupled Suica with the VIEW
credit card in June 2003.
Front Reverse
International Brand
Our In-House Credit Card
Suica Commuter Pass
39

Auto Top-up Service
For example, when the
balance becomes less than
¥3000, ¥5000 will be added
automatically at the gate.
40

The Number of View-Suica Holders
Sales Volume
$1,500Million
( FY2015.3)
View-Suica Holders
4.6 Million ( FY2015.3)
41

0
50
100
150
200
250
300
350
2006年10月
2007年1月
2007年4月
2007年7月
2007年10月
2008年1月
2008年4月
2008年7月
2008年10月
2009年1月
2009年4月
2009年7月
2009年10月
2010年1月
2010年4月
2010年7月
2010年10月
2011年1月
2011年4月
2011年7月
2011年10月
2012年1月
2012年4月
2012年7月
2012年10月
2013年1月
2013年4月
2013年7月
2013年10月
2014年1月
2014年4月
2014年7月
Number of the Cards set for Auto Top-up
Number of the cards
set for Auto top-up:
3.16 Million
（As of August 31, 2015)
Auto top-up service started
for View-Suica from Oct. 2006
for personalized Suica from July 2009
for mobile Suica from Mar. 2010
42

Suica Tie-up Strategy: Combining Suica & Credit
Bic Camera
JAL
Enable Suica to be used in
variety of situationsAeon
View Suica Card
Suica Card
ANA
Airlines
Mass electric
appliance stores
Mizuho,Yokohama,
MTU, MS, JP
43

4. Integration with
External Networks
mobile Suica

46
Hundreds of handset for mobile Suica

mobile Suica ｰ A Combination of Suica and Mobile Phones
Mobile phone
+ Communications
Screen display
Jan. 2006 mobile Suica service debut
Oct. 2006 Online payment service started
Mar. 2007 Interoperation in Metropolitan area started
Mar. 2008 Shinkansen express ticket service started
mobile Suica service history
Mar. 2010 Auto top-up service started
FeliCa IC
Jul. 2011 Available for smart phones (AndroidTM)Jul. 2011 Available for smart phones (AndroidTM)
47

Stored Fare / e-Purse (Recharge,
Remaining Value, Transaction Logs)
Commuter Pass (Buy, Renew, Cancel)
Quick Charge
1st class seat (Green Car) (Buy, Cancel)
JR East Shinkansen Express Ticket
Link to JR Central Shinkansen Express
Ticket Reservation System
User Menu
Top Menu
48

Top-up
Online top-up
by credit cards
by money transfer
from bank
accounts
by MNO accounts
Top-up at
stores
by cash
Auto top-up
at passenger
gates
by credit cards
Top-up at
the ticket
vending
machines
by cash
Everywhere
(Over The Air) at stores at stations
49

Get on Train by mobile Suica
Local Train
Get on
1st class car
Purchase and
1st class ticket
download
Validation of
1st class ticket
Check-out:
with Fare Payment
or Commuter Pass
50
Check-in with
SF or Commuter
Pass Conductor inspects Suica
(sometimes)

Get on Train by mobile Suica
Shinkansen (High Speed Train)
Reservation,
Purchase and
e-ticket download
Check-in
Check-out
Get on
Shinkansen 51

Increase of mobile Suica Holders
3.68 millon holders
As of Jan.28 2016
M
3
2
1
0
2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015
Jan.28, 2016
10 years
anniversary
52

The Sales Volume of mobile Suica
FY2007 FY2008 FY2009 FY2010 FY2011 FY2012 FY2013
Shinkansen ticket
First Class ticket
Commuter Pass
Auto Top-up(SF)
SF (e-money)
7.4％ of Railway Operations Revenues
53

Mobile
Suica
Million
Ikebukuro
Station
Shinjuku
Station
Tokyo
Station
(100yen⇒US$1)
The top station of the recharged e-Money amount is Shinjuku.
However the recharged e-money amount through the Mobile Suica
is almost 4.3 times as much as that of Shinjuku.
The Comparison of Recharged Suica e-Money
As of FY2012
4.3 Times of Shinjuku
54

Touch
1. The RF communication distance has to be
over 85mm.
2. Gate has to be capable of 60 passengers
per a minute.
mobile Suica
Test for mobile Suica
55

RF Performance Test
X
Y
Z
Every mobile FeliCa has this mark at
the most sensitive position.
56

85
80
：
40
35
30
25
20
15
10
5
0
-40 -30 -20 -10 0 +10 +20 +30 +40[ mm ]
[mm]
X-axis
Z-axis
Measurement
Points
RF Performance Test
57

3 mm height
Along X-axis, there are 3 consecutive columns with
communication failure within 3 mm height.
⇒ This handset does not pass the test.
OK
Fail
RF performance test
58

Lesson Learned on Battery Low Mode
Battery Low Mode:
Not enough power as mobile phone but
some power to drive NFC chip 60

Lesson Learned on Battery Low Mode
Requirement
• 24 hours Suica availability after a mobile phone
turned off
• No issue over 10 years operation
Customer adoption
• Well received
• First 2 years, 10 calls per month asking about
Battery Low Mode
• Quite infrequent those days
61

What we are
challenging now

What we are challenging now
To solve the issues for Tokyo Olympic &
Paralympic in 2020
To find useful information by analyzing
Suica Usage Data
To harmonize our infrastructure with NFC
Forum specifications
63

So many foreigners will arrive at Narita/Haneda airport.
1. Very long waiting line may be formed to buy Suica
cards at Narita/Haneda airport station.
 Is it possible to sell Suica cards abroad in advance?
Issues to be Solved for Tokyo Olympic & Paralympic in 2020
0
5,000,000
10,000,000
15,000,000
20,000,000
25,000,000
30,000,000
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
2016
2017
2018
2019
2020
Foreign visitors to Japan
64

2. Very long waiting line may be formed to refund
the deposit and the balance of the Suica card
at Narita/Haneda airport station.
How about issuing the no refund Suica card?
This special Suica will be sold with no deposit.
Users can donate the balance at Narita/Haneda airport.
3. It is rather troublesome to recharge the Suica card
at the ticket vending machine because of the
unfamiliar operation.
One idea is to develop a Suica card having a free
area.
Issues to be solved for Tokyo Olympic & Paralympic in 2020
65

4. At the present it is impossible to recharge the Suica
card using a credit card issued in a foreign country.
We have to negotiate the commission fee with the
credit card companies.
Issues to be solved for Tokyo Olympic & Paralympic in 2020
66
We are making every effort to provide
service satisfactory for customers.

Analyzing Suica Usage Records
The Case of “Suica & N’ex”
Combines an original design Suica card
and a reduced price round trip ticket for the Narita Express (N'EX)
2007-2014

(1) We have not recognized so far:
Analyzing Traveling Patterns and Findings
Where do foreign
tourists go with Suica?
Where do foreign tourists
stay?
Do they take N’EX for the
return trip as well?
68

(2) Finding from Suica data
Analyzing Traveling Patterns and Findings
Shinjuku
Harajuk
u
Shibuya
Roppong
i
Yuraku-cho 21.2%
Ueno
Mitaka
Tsukiji
Market
Popular
Destination
9 km9 km9 km9 km9 km9 km9 km9 km9 km
池袋
15.7%
表参道
5.2%
上野
25.3%
御徒町5.0%
浅草
32.2%
秋葉原 18.0%
東京14.1%
有楽町 21.2%
新橋 13.7%
汐留
3.9%
築地 4%
築地市場 15.1%赤羽橋駅
6.3%
台場 7.1%
お台場海浜公園4.9％
※ ％はIDiの割合
舞浜
16.0%
吉祥寺
7.7%三鷹
10.4%
新宿
41.7%
原宿
44.2%
渋谷
38.1%
自由が丘
8.0%
恵比寿
9.3%
六本木
19.0%
下北沢
5.1%
9 km9 km9 km9 km9 km9 km9 km9 km9 km
Ikebukuro
15.7%
Ueno
25.3% Asakusa
32.2%
Akihabara 18.0%
Tokyo14.1%
Yurakucho21.2%
Shimbashi13.7%
Tsukiji-shijo15.1%
Daiba7.1%
※ ％はIDiの割合
Maihama
16.0%
Kichijoji
7.7%Mitaka
10.4%
Shinjuku
41.7%
Harajuku
44.2%
Shibuya
38.1%
Jiyugaoka
8.0%
Ebisu
9.3%
Roppongi
19.0%
Popular
Destination
We utilize the results from analysis such as・・・
- Where should we install broadcast equipment that
speak in foreign languages in high priority?
- Where should we recommend those foreigners to visit? 69

We want to have a following world in the future;
1. We can offer “mobile Suica service” to the foreigners
visiting Japan with a mobile-phone of their home
country.
2. People with Japanese mobile-phone can get on the
public transit in foreign countries, like a “mobile Suica”
in Japan.
To realize this world, the specifications of NFC chip have to
be harmonized and mobile-phones have to be made as a
global model.
Of course, JRE’s infrastructure should be harmonize with
NFC Forum specifications.
To harmonize with NFC Forum spec
70

Mobile FeliCa Technical Communications
Committee (モバイルFeliCa技術連絡会）
From April, 2015
MNOs
e-Money providers
Already Harmo-
nized in Japan
Mobile FeliCa RF
Performance
Certification
71

Already harmonized in Japan
MNOs
e-Money providers
In the future
In the long term we
are preparing to
design our
instruments to be
compliant to NFC
Forum specifications.
72

73
The core business of JR East
1st : Railway Business
High-speed, Metropolitan, Inter-city, Regional
2nd : Life-style Service Business
Shopping Centers, Hotel, Retailing, Restaurants
3rd : Suica Business
--- establishing as a 3rd core business now ---
(1) Expanding Suica to all railway networks
(2) e-Money
(3) Suica Information Business

74
Thank you for your kind attention.

Suica – Keeping a Stable Operation and Expanding Services

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